title: Schizophrenia in general practice: a national survey of general practitioners in Ireland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic schizophrenia is challenging to manage in primary care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to establish the views of General Practitioners about managing patients with chronic schizophrenia in primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, postal survey questionnaire of a randomly selected sample of 20% of GPs was carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most GPs (97.2%) have at least one person with schizophrenia attending their practice. A substantial number of GPs (22.2%) treat cases of schizophrenia without specialist input following an initial referral to psychiatric services. Almost all (88.7%) advised patients who had experienced multiple relapses to remain on medication indefinitely. One third of GPs reported that they always experience difficulties managing patients with schizophrenia in their practice. Non-adherence with prescribed medication and loss to follow-up were the commonest impediments to treatment encountered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GPs require appropriate back up from specialist services to enable their management of chronic schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: St John of God Hospital, Dublin.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gavin
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Donoghue
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ascencio-Lane
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bury
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires