Abstract:
The purposes of this quasi-experimental research were to compare: 1) medication compliance behavior of schizophrenic patients before and after received the Health Belief Enhancement Program, and 2) medication compliance behavior of schizophrenic patients who received the Health Belief Enhancement Program and those who received regular nursing care. The sample consisted of 36 schizophrenic patients receiving services in outpatient department at Somdetchaopraya Institute of Psychiatry. They were matched pair with score on Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and sex then randomly assigned to experimental groups and control groups with 18 subjects in each group. The experimental group received the Health Belief Enhancement Program and the control group received regular nursing care activities. The research instruments consisted of: 1) the Health Belief Enhancement Program and 2) the Compliance Behavior Assessment Scale. All instruments were verified for content validity by 5 professional experts. The reliability of the 2nd instruments was reported by Chronbach,s Alpha coefficient of .80. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Major findings were as follows : 1. The medication compliance behavior of schizophrenic patients who received the Health Belief Enhancement Program was significantly higher than that before, at p .05. 2. The medication compliance behavior of schizophrenic patients who received the Health Belief Enhancement Program was significantly higher than those who received regular nursing care activities, at p .05.