Adherence to Medication and Psychiatric Function Improvement in Bipolar Disorder Treatment Among Urban Nigerians over Six Months: A Longitudinal Study

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health condition affecting approximately 0.5% of adults worldwide, with significant disparities in treatment and outcomes across different regions. Participants were recruited from a tertiary care hospital in an urban setting. Data collection included self-reported medication adherence using the Modified Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and psychiatric assessments using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). During the study period, 72% of participants reported adherence rates between 0.5 and 1 on the MMAS-8 scale, indicating moderate to high levels of medication adherence. Initial findings suggest that improved psychiatric function was observed in a subgroup of patients who maintained consistent medication intake over the six-month period. Further studies should explore the development of tailored interventions aimed at enhancing medication adherence and improving patient outcomes in urban Nigerian settings. Bipolar Disorder, Medication Adherence, Psychiatric Function, Urban Nigerians Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.