Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:18:00.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Patients' knowledge of their lithium therapy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. Anderson
Affiliation:
Goldenhill Resource Centre, Glasgow
K. Sowerbutts*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Southern General Hospital, Govan Road, Glasgow
*
Correspondence
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Aims and method

Using a semi-structured questionnaire, we surveyed the patients attending an out-patient affective disorders clinic, enquiring about their knowledge of their lithium therapy.

Results

The response rate was 68%. In general, the level of knowledge relating to their own treatment was good, however we were able to identify particular areas of deficiency in their theoretical knowledge.

Clinical implications

The only factor we could identify which had a significant effect on patients' level of knowledge was having received education on lithium in more than one form.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Delany, N. (1991) How much do patients on lithium know about their medication? Psychiatric Bulletin, 15, 136137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrier, I. N., Tyrer, S. P. & Bell, A. J. (1995) Lithium therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 1, 102110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, N. S. & Peet, M. (1991a) Lithium maintenance: 2. Effects of personality and attitude on health information acquisition and compliance. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 200204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, N. S. & Peet, M. (1991b) Lithium: Advice for Patients. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.Google Scholar
Lee, S., Wing, Y. K. & Wong, K. C. (1992) Knowledge and compliance towards lithium therapy among Chinese psychiatric patients in Hong Kong. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 26, 444448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peet, M. & Harvey, N. S. (1991) Lithium maintenance: 1. A standard education programme for patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 197200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.