{"id":2916,"date":"2025-08-01T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncqa.org\/?page_id=2916"},"modified":"2026-01-30T07:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T12:06:09","slug":"adherence-to-antipsychotic-medications-for-individuals-with-schizophrenia-saa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ncqa.org\/report-cards\/health-plans\/state-of-health-care-quality-report\/adherence-to-antipsychotic-medications-for-individuals-with-schizophrenia-saa\/","title":{"rendered":"Adherence to Antipsychotic Medications for Individuals With Schizophrenia (SAA)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"TextRun SCXW242236509 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW242236509 BCX0\">The percentage of persons 18 years of age and older during the measurement period, with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, who were dispensed and remained on an antipsychotic medication for at least 80% of their treatment period.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW242236509 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Why It Matters<\/h2>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Nonadherence to treatment with antipsychotics is common among people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and medication nonadherence is a significant cause of relapse<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> <sup>(1,3)<\/sup>.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:180,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Patients with schizophrenia require the long-term use of medication to manage symptoms and to improve psychosocial functioning <sup>(2)<\/sup>. Medication adherence is necessary to improve symptoms and relapse. Non-adherence increases risk of re-hospitalization, emergency psychiatric treatment, functional decline and death. Medication non-adherence rates for schizophrenic patients ranges between 56%-60%.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:180,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Measuring antipsychotic medication adherence may encourage efforts aimed at reducing medication nonadherence and, in turn, lead to lower relapse rates and fewer hospitalizations. This may help close the gap in care between people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and the general population.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:180,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">*Adapted by NCQA with permission of the measure developer, CMS.<\/span><\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:180,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-teams=\"true\">Historical Results \u2013 National Averages<\/span><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The percentage of persons 18 years of age and older during the measurement period, with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, who were dispensed and remained on an antipsychotic medication for at least 80% of their treatment period.\u00a0\u00a0 Why It Matters Nonadherence to treatment with antipsychotics is common among people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and medication [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":733,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2916","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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