Phenothiazine Intake and Staff Attitudes
DAVID S. IRWIN M.D.1,
WILLIAM D. WEITZEL M.D., , and
DONALD W. MORGAN M.D.
1 Chief, Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Jackson, S. C.
The authors report the percentages of patients who failed to adhere minimally to prescribed phenothiazine medication schedules in closed-ward, open-ward, and chronic outpatient treatment situations within a single hospital. An unexpected finding was that significantly more outpatients on thioridazine (55 percent) than on chlorpromazine (15 percent) were not taking minimal amounts of medication. Staff attitudes regarding the usefulness of antipsychotic medications were also studied. The principal factor governing patient intake of medication appeared to be the amount of direct patient supervision.
