Subjective experience on antipsychotic drugs (APs) in schizophrenic patients has been the object of several recent studies and it has been connected to treatment adherence, quality of life and outcome. The current study was undertaken to investigate the role of clinical and socio-demographic variables on patients' perceptions and attitude towards APs in schizophrenia.

Seventy-eight schizophrenic patients (M/F=38/35) were recruited in a naturalistic setting, from two Rehabilitative Centres of the Departments of Mental Health of Melegnano and Milano (Italy). Subjective experience towards antipsychotic treatment was assessed using the Drug Attitude Inventory-30 (DAI-30) and the Subjective Well-being on Neuroleptics (SWN) scales. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale were adopted to evaluate clinical and outcome variables.

The analysis of study data showed a relationship between psychopathological variables and patients’ subjective experience on APs treatment. Positive symptoms affected patients’ perception of their treatment leading to a negative attitude towards APs, whereas negative symptoms were associated with a worse perception of patients’ mental functioning. With respect to pharmacotherapy, atypical antipsycotics were associated to a higher awareness of cognitive dysfunction and better treatment adherence.

These findings underline the clinical relevance of taking into account the subjective experience of schizophrenic patients treated with APs in order to improve treatment adherence and outcome.