Role of Belief about and Adherence to Medication on Symptom Severity of Life of Patients Suffering from Depressive Disorder Residing a Rural Areas of West Bengal

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Recovery  from  any  illness  (psychiatric  and  non-psychiatric)  depends  upon the  adherence to  treatment  and  this  adherence  is  influenced  by  the  belief system  an individual  possesses regarding the treatment.
AIM
The main thrust area of the present work is focusing how belief system about the medication influences adherence to medication, and how both of them individually influence severity of depression and quality of life of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) residing at urban and rural areas.
METHODS
Totally 60 individuals suffering from Major Depressive Disorder, both from urban and rural areas were selected for the study. Purposive sampling technique has been used. Ex-post facto design has been selected for the present study. Following the objectives only t-test and Mann Whitney U test have been used.
RESULT
It has been found that in both urban and rural areas belief about medication and adherence to medication have influenced severity of depression and quality of life. Necessity belief about psychotropic medication is lower in MDD patients residing at the urban area in comparison to rural. Necessity belief has also affected the level of adherence to medication, severity level of depressive symptoms and quality of life of those patients. Harmfulness belief about general medication  is  higher  in  MDD  patients  residing  in  rural  area  in comparison to  urban  and  it  has  affected  their  level  of  adherence  to  medication, severity  level  of depressive symptoms and consequently the quality of life.
CONCLUSION
Differences  exist  between  urban  and  rural  participants  with  respect  to their  belief about medication (necessity and overuse) and environmental quality of life. Severities
of depression and quality of life have been influenced by belief about medication and adherence to medication in both urban and rural setup.

Keywords  : Belief  about  medication,  adherence  to  medication,  Major Depressive Disorder, symptom severity and quality of life.