The Effect of a Theory Based Educational Intervention on Medication Adherence to and Removes of Related Barriers in Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Despite an increasing pharmacopoeia of effective medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder, patient outcomes continue to be impacted by treatment adherence. Non-adherence to treatments is also a major obstacle in translating efficacy in research settings into effectiveness in clinical practice. Non-adherence with bipolar disorder (BD) medication treatment dramatically worsens outcomes. Reasons for non-adherence among individuals with BD are multi-dimensional, and it has been suggested that a multifaceted intervention will be more effective. The study is aimed to assess the effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention on enhancing medications adherence in patients with bipolar disorders.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. age ≥18 years
2. meeting DSM-IV criteria for bipolar I or II disorder
3. concurrently treated with a mood stabilizer
4. not currently in weekly or biweekly psychotherapy
5. Persian speaking.

Exclusion Criteria:

• DSM-IV drug or alcohol misuse disorders (excluding nicotine),
• pregnancy or planning pregnancy in the next year
• requiring changing the drug or the dose of a mood stabilizer
• evidence of severe DSM-IV borderline personality
• Unable or unwilling to give written informed consent.
• An organic cerebral cause for bipolar disorder-for example, multiple sclerosis or stroke.
• intellectual disability