Objective: To identify interventions that improve medication adherence in bipolar disorder.
Method: A review of the literature from 2004 to 2011 was conducted using Medline and manual searching.
Results: Eleven studies were identified as meeting inclusion criteria. Five studies demonstrated improved medication adherence. No characteristics of the interventions, clinical characteristics of the groups or methodological factors distinguished those psychosocial interventions that demonstrated improvement from those that did not.
Conclusions: While only a few interventions improved adherence, most improved clinical outcomes. Issues were also identified about the way in which adherence is defined. It is proposed that incorporating patient preferences into measures of adherence within the context of a disorder-specific psychosocial intervention may provide an approach that demonstrates both improved adherence and improved clinical outcomes. However this requires further research.