prevalence of relapse and associated factors among patients with psychotic disorders attending service rendered at jimma university specialized hospital, south west Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Relapse is re-emergence of psychotic symptoms. Psychotic disorders have relapses associated with the nature of the illnesses or some other associated factors. Most of the time patients with previous history of illness, with severe type or ongoing stressors have high risk of relapse. The common factors associated with relapse are non-adherence to medication, psychosocial stressors, co morbid substance use (illnesses) and staying longer duration before psychiatric treatment. Relapse leads patients to have longer time of treatment and repeated hospitalization. This affects the patients’ prognosis in the long run. Objective: To assess prevalence of relapse and associated factors among patients with psychotic disorders Methods: This study was conducted using cross-sectional study design to determine prevalence of relapse and associated factors among patients with psychotic disorders by using standard questionnaire. Data were entered and analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 20). The association between relapse and other variables was explored using binary logistic regression. Multivariate analysis was used for variables with p-value ≤ 0.25. Results: Out of 386 patients included in the study 65% (n=251) of them had relapse (≥13 on Positive Syndrome Scale). The mean positive syndrome scale was 23±SD14.43. Relapse of psychotic disorders was associated with ethnicity, income, low level of khat abuse, diagnosis (schizophrenia, schizophreniform and schizoaffective), having side effect and non-compliance. Conclusion and recommendation: Relapse among psychotic disorder patients was high. It is one of the burdens of treating mental illnesses. Families or care givers as well as patients need regular counseling about the nature of the illness and proper medication intake. And also they need to be assessed for possible early signs of relapse and regular follow up for possible side effects.