The Evaluation of Treatment Adherence and Its Association with Perceived Social Support in Patients with Mood Disorders in Hospitals Affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2022

Considering the importance of perceived social support and adherence to treatment in improving the treatment process of mood disorders, our aim was to determine the degree of adherence to treatment and its relationship with perceived social support in patients with mood disorders.

This was a cross-sectional correlational study performed on 120 patients with mood disorders recruited by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the treatment adherence questionnaire developed by Heydari et al. and the multidimensional scale of perceived social support. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive indices, Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and independent t-test.

The results revealed that the average age of the participants was 39.54 ± 13.13 years. Patients with mood disorders had a moderate level of treatment adherence and perceived social support (mean ± SD of 51.53 ± 8.31 and 54.75 ± 11.23, respectively). The Pearson correlation test indicated a significant association between the treatment adherence level and perceived social support among patients with mood disorders (P < 0.001), meaning that with an increase in the level of adherence to treatment, the level of perceived social support increased as well.

Perceived social support has a significant impact on treatment adherence in patients with mood disorders. Larger studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to confirm our findings.