Attitude towards medication has been associated with compliance, but different variables have been associated with them.

Assess relationship between attitude towards medication and compliance, and to evaluate variables related to treatment associated with them.

Non-interventional, multicentre, cross-sectional study. Outpatients with stable schizophrenia (according to clinical criteria) who had the last acute episode at least 2 months before were included.

941 patients recruited were included in the study, 931 patients were included in the statistical analysis.

Mean score on DAI was 4.2 and in its subscales: 1.6 on general attitude 2.8 on subjective effect 2.8. Mean score on compliance (a component of David's scale of insight), with range from 0 to 4, was: 3.0.

There were statistically significant (p < 0.0001) correlations between this subscale of David's insight scale and total DAI score (r = 0.495), with general attitude (r = 0.480) and with subjective effect (r = 0.419).

Variables related to medication with association statistically (p < 0.005) with DAI (total score and both subscales) were: length of treatment with current antipsychotic, number of total adverse events (AEs), moderate AEs, severe AEs, and total severity of adverse events (sum of severity of each one). All of them, except number of severe AEs, had statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05) with compliance.

Variables related to attitude towards medication (DAI total and both subscale) were very similar to those related to compliance (construct of David's insight scale). Adverse events and length of antipsychotic treatment had a clear clinical relevance. Study sponsored by AstraZeneca Spain, S.A.