Schizophrenia in general practice: a national survey of general practitioners in Ireland.
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.
Gavin
B
B
St John of God Hospital, Dublin.
Cullen
W
W
O'Donoghue
B
B
Ascencio-Lane
J C
JC
Bury
G
G
O'Callaghan
E
E
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