Influence of demographic profile and symptoms on insight among people with schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction: Insight facilitation is an integral step to achieve good treatment outcome in schizophrenia. Low insight always leads to poor drug adherence and treatment resistance. The study aimed to examine how demographic profile and symptoms influencing the insight among people with schizophrenia. Methods and Materials: Objectives were to assess socio-demographic variables, the symptoms, and insight among people with Schizophrenia and to understand the influence of those variables on the insight. The descriptive research design opted for the study. Sample size of the quantitative study was 53, and subjects were selected as per the study inclusion and exclusion criteria. The population of the study was patients who were attending the outpatient department of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). Results: Age and age at the onset of illness were not associated with insight. Male participants had better insight compared to female participants. Persons with middle school or primary school education reported better insight than illiterate, graduates or professional graduates. Participants from the urban area had better insight than participants from the rural area. Insight and positive and negative symptoms were negatively correlated. Conclusion: The demographic factors and symptoms influence the insight among people with Schizophrenia. Hence such factors must be considered while insight facilitation for increasing the adherence to the treatment.   Keywords: Insight, schizophrenia, positive, negatives symptoms, age, gender, education, domicile