ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Psichiatrica 2000 June;41(2):67-76

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Needs for care of schizophrenic patients. Preliminary results from a european research project

Carpiniello B., Carta M. G., Wiersma D., Kovess V., Caria A., Caldas De Almeida J. M., Dubuis J., Lacal-montie E., Moreno B., Peller J., Porcedda R., Roelandt J. L., Salize H. J., Torres-Gonzales F., Walsh D.

Background. This paper presents the preliminary results of the Italian centre of a European research project regarding the evaluation of needs for care of schizophrenic patients, compared with overall results from the 10 centres of 7 European countries participating to the project.
Methods. A cohort of 504 schizophrenic patients according ICD-10, randomly selected among those who were in contact with mental health services, was clinically studied by means of a structured interview (SCAN). Needs of care were also studied by means of a structured instruments the Needs for Care Assessment Schedule (NFCAS).
Results. The ''average'' patient affected by schizophrenia who was in charge of the mental health service was mainly male (68% of cases), between 35 and 43 years old, and ill for about 15 years, unmarried and living alone or with parents, mostly unemployed and dependent on social benefits. In the Italian centre, the average number of clinical and social problems of this patient was 8 respect to 6 of the entire European sample; the rate of meet/unmeet needs was approx: 2:1 respect to 8:1 on the average in Europe. 100% of schizophrenic subjects of the Italian centre showed at least one unmeet need respect to 44% on the average in Europe.
Conclusions. Unmeet needs were significantly and inversely correlated with the number of community based, residential and semiresidential facilities.