The needs of patients receiving depot antipsychotic medication within primary care

Background. Depot antipsychotic medication is a vital treatment for many people with schizophrenia. Many patients receive this medication from primary care, and have little or no contact with specialist mental health services. Objective. The aim of the present study was to compare the characteristic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family practice 2003-04, Vol.20 (2), p.126-128
Main Authors: Phelan, Michael, Mirza, Ilyas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use
Antipsychotic drugs
Chi-Square Distribution
Community Mental Health Services
Depot antipsychotic
Female
General practitioners
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Medicine
Mental health services
Needs assessment
Physician-Patient Relations
Prescribing
Primary Health Care
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - drug therapy
Specialization
Treatment
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background. Depot antipsychotic medication is a vital treatment for many people with schizophrenia. Many patients receive this medication from primary care, and have little or no contact with specialist mental health services. Objective. The aim of the present study was to compare the characteristics and needs of patients receiving depot medication within primary care with those receiving their medication from specialist mental health services. Methods. A total of 58 patients were identified from four primary care teams. Data were collected from medical records, and staff interviews were conducted using standardized interview schedules. Results. Patients receiving medication from primary care had more than twice as many health and social needs compared with those receiving medication from specialist services. Conclusions. There are advantages for patients to receive depot medication from primary care, but the needs of the patients must be reviewed regularly, and primary care staff must have easy access to specialist mental health services.
ISSN:0263-2136
1460-2229
DOI:10.1093/fampra/20.2.126