Pervasive developmental disorder and early intervention in psychosis services: a survey of care coordinators' experiences.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the experience of care coordinators encountering clients with co-morbid diagnoses or features of pervasive development disorder (PDD) in an Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured face-to-face interview schedule.


RESULTS
Thirty-three care coordinators were interviewed. One-third of the care coordinators had previously encountered at least one client with a co-morbid diagnosis of PDD, with the majority feeling confident that they could recognize the features of the syndrome. The estimated reported prevalence of diagnosed PDD in this group was around 4-5%, although social and communication impairments were regularly encountered in clients by at least a quarter of the clinicians interviewed.


CONCLUSIONS
Social and communication problems are commonly observed by clinicians in this population and some may represent the presence of a co-morbid PDD. Further efforts should be made to better identify and support this sub-population of EIP clients.
del Real
Agata
A
Child and Adolescent Department, Hospital de Mataro, Barcelona, Spain.
Brabban
Alison
A
Tiffin
Paul A
PA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*