Informing Patients About Tardive Dyskinesia: Four-Year Follow Up of a Trial of Patient Education

Abstract

Objective: This paper evaluates the effects of an educational intervention about tardive dyskinesia on knowledge and clinical stability at long-term follow up. Method: Fifty-six patients receiving antipsychotic maintenance completed a questionnaire assessing their knowledge about tardive dyskinesia. After random allocation to either educational intervention or control group, their knowledge, clinical stability and rates of tardive dyskinesia were reassessed after four years. Results: Seventy per cent of patients completed the study. The patients in the educational group retained significantly more knowledge at follow up than at baseline but this knowledge was not significantly greater than that of the control group. There were no significant differences in the clinical outcomes between the groups. Conclusion: Patients can retain a small but significant amount of information with a low risk of noncompliance. Discussion about tardive dyskinesia is necessary in the process of obtaining informed consent to treatment.