Effects of the diagnostic label ‘schizophrenia’, actively used or passively accepted, on general practitioners’ views of this disorder:

Background:General practitioners (GPs) play a key role in the care of somatic and psychiatric problems in people diagnosed with schizophrenia (PWS). It is probable that, like other health professionals, GPs are not all free of prejudices toward PWS. In clinical practice, GPs sometimes interact with clients diagnosed with schizophrenia by specialists, passively accepting this diagnosis. Other times, GPs interact with clients having symptoms of schizophrenia but who have not been diagnosed. In this case, GPs are expected to actively make a diagnosis. Giving the key role of GPs in the process of care, it is worthwhile examining whether passive acceptance and active usage of the diagnosis schizophrenia have differential effects on GPs’ attitudes toward people with this disorder.Aims:To investigate GPs’ views of schizophrenia and whether they were influenced by a ‘schizophrenia’ label, passively accepted or actively used.Methods:A total of 430 randomly selected GPs were invited to complete a questionnaire abou...