surveypractitioners and schizophrenia: results from a Swiss

Background Generalpractitioners(GPs)haveanimportantroleinthecareofpatientswithchronicschizophreniaandofpatientswithchronic schizophrenia andofthoseintheearlyphasesofthisdisorder.Aims Toobtaininformationaboutthenumberofpatientsintheearlyandchronicstagesofschizophrenia seeningeneralpractice;theneedsandattitudesofGPs,practice;theneedsandattitudesof GPs,theirdiagnosticknowledgeconcerningearlyphasesofschizophreniaandtheirknowledgeandpracticeconcerningtreatmentofpatientswithfirst-episodeandmulti-episodeschizophrenia.Method ApostalsurveywasconductedamongrandomlyselectedGPsconductedamongrandomlyselected GPsin Switzerland.Results Atotalof1089 GPsrespondedAtotalof1089GPsrespondedtothesurvey.Earlypsychosishadalowprevalenceingeneralpractice,andGPsprevalenceingeneralpractice, and GPsexpressedawishforspecialised,low-thresholdreferralservices.Diagnosticandtreatmentknowledgeshowedinconsistencies.MostGPssaidtheywouldinconsistencies.Most GPssaidtheywouldtreatfirst-episodeschizophreniawithantipsychotics,butonlyathirdrecommendedmaintenancetreatmentafterafirstepisodeofschizophreniathatwouldconformwithinternationalrecommendations.Conclusions Easilyaccessible, low-thresholdreferralservicesarepivotalinsupportingGPsinthemanagementandsupporting GPsinthemanagementandtreatmentofemergingschizophreniainprimaryhealthcarepatients.Declarationof interest None.FundingdetailedinAcknowledgements.