Abstract
Insight in Schizophrenia and its Relationship to Positive and Negative Symptoms and Medication Adherence
Author(s): Amira Alshowkan*Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness which characterizes by impaired insight. Previous studies showed that a lack of insight in people with schizophrenia is negatively affected their medication compliance, symptoms reduction, and well-being in general. This study aims at assessing the insight of people with schizophrenia and to identify its relationship with positive and negative symptoms and treatment attitudes in Saudi Arabia. A purposive sample of outpatients with schizophrenia was selected. The participants were administered the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Insight and Treatment Attitudes Questionnaire (ITAQ), for data collection. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. The study disclosed that most of the patients were found to have fair to good insight and moderate medication adherence. The result indicated that patients with schizophrenia with negative symptoms have poor insight and medication compliance. Several suggestions were recommended to enhance the level of insight and medication adherence among outpatients with schizophrenia.