Relationship between depression literacy and medication adherence in patients with depression

Abstract

Objective: To find out the relationship between depression literacy and adherence to medications in subjects with major depressive disorder in remission. Methods: In this cross-sectional hospital-based study, 130 subjects with major depressive disorder were assessed by using socio-demographic data form and clinical proforma designed for this study, Depression Literacy Questionnaire and Medication Adherence Rating Scale. Results: Median scores on D-Lit and MARS were 13.2 and 0.00 respectively. Two patterns of common incorrect responses were regarding the cognitive and treatment aspect of depression. Female gender had statistically significant higher D-Lit score (p=0.025) than male, and Score on D-Lit had statistically significant negative predictive value of score on MARS (R 2 =0.059, df=5, F=1.55, p=0.020). Conclusion: Cognitive and treatment aspect of depression literacy is lower in patients with depression in India. Depression literacy is more in women and positively associated with medication adherence.