Factors Affecting the Readmission Rates and Health Care Costs of Patients Hospitalized with Schizophrenia: Non-Adherence to Treatment and Increased Relapses

Non-adherence to medication and outpatient follow-up care are recognizable problems and may be the most challenging aspect of treatment in patients with schizophrenia. Interventions to improve adherence include psychosocial therapy and education, offering and beginning antipsychotic long-acting injections, electronic reminders, service-based interventions, and financial support systems. However, it is difficult to measure the standard of adherence to treatment, as some of the interventions are not applicable to most patients. We conducted a literature review focusing on related topics published from 2014 until 2019 using PubMed and CINAHL searching tools. Other mental health disorders were excluded from our search to avoid confounding the results. The results showed a reduction in hospital readmission in patients who were taking long-acting antipsychotic injections and had supervised outpatient follow-up care as well as participating in psychosocial therapy when compared with the rest of the patients who did not receive long-acting injections or outpatient follow-up clinics.