The EPSILON study of schizophrenia in five European countries. Design and methodology for standardising outcome measures and comparing patterns of care and service costs

There is a lack of cross-national research on care for people with schizophrenia. To produce standardised European versions of five instruments in key areas of mental health service research in five languages, and to compare data from five European countries regarding patients with schizophrenia and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of psychiatry 1999-12, Vol.175 (6), p.514-521
Main Authors: Becker, T, Knapp, M, Knudsen, HC, Schene, A, Tansella, M, Thornicroft, G, Vazquez- Barquero, JL
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Caregivers
Clinical assessment
Comparative studies
Conversion
Cross-Sectional Studies
Denmark
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Health care expenditures
Health Care Surveys - methods
Health research
Health services
Humans
Italy
Life satisfaction
London
Medical diagnosis
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental health care
Mental health services
Mental Health Services - economics
Mental Health Services - organization & administration
Mental Health Services - supply & distribution
Middle Aged
Needs Assessment
Netherlands
Patient Satisfaction
Patients
Psychiatry
Quality of Life
Regression Analysis
Reliability
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenia - therapy
Schizophrenic Psychology
Spain
Translation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There is a lack of cross-national research on care for people with schizophrenia. To produce standardised European versions of five instruments in key areas of mental health service research in five languages, and to compare data from five European countries regarding patients with schizophrenia and mental health care provision and costs. Five centres, in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Santander and Verona, participated. Instruments assessing needs, service use, informal career involvement, quality of life, and service satisfaction were subjected to a conversion procedure including translation, back-translation, focus group discussion and reliability assessment. Patients of local mental health services with a Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry diagnosis of schizophrenia were interviewed. Service provision varied between sites; 404 patients were studied. Instrument reliability was found to be good. The instruments developed were reliable across the range of countries, and will facilitate future comparative health service research.
ISSN:0007-1250
1472-1465
DOI:10.1192/bjp.175.6.514