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The British Journal of Psychiatry (1967) 113: 1435-1439. doi: 10.1192/bjp.113.505.1435
© 1967 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Do Psychiatric In-Patients Take their Pills?

E. H. HARE M.D., D.P.M.1 and D. R. C. WILLCOX M.C.Path.2

1 Physician, The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent
2 Consultant Pathologist, The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent

1. Urine tests were made on 120 psychiatric in-patients and 27 day-patients to see how far they were taking the pills prescribed for them. Criteria for failure to take pills as prescribed were based on a negative chromatogram or on a low concentration of amphetamine-like substances (ALS) in at least one specimen of urine.

2. On the criterion of a `probably low' concentration of ALS, which strongly suggests that a patient had taken few or none of his pills during at least the preceding 24 hours, the failure rate was 19 per cent. among in-patients and 37 per cent. among day patients.

3. Eighty-four in-patients had three urine specimens tested at weekly intervals. Of those patients who showed a probably low level of ALS, over a half of them did so in more than one urine specimen. This suggests that, among those patients who were taking their pills irregularly for at least some of the time, about half of them were doing this more often than not during their course of treatment.

4. Some implications of these findings are discussed.

Submitted on January 4, 1967




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Copyright © 1967 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.