Patterns of primary care among persons with schizophrenia: the role of patients, general practitioners and centre factor
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nternational Journal of Mental Health Systems Open Access
RESEARCH
Patterns of primary care among persons with schizophrenia: the role of patients, general practitioners and centre factors Mª Carmen Castillejos Anguiano1* , Carlos Martín Pérez2, Antonio Bordallo Aragón3, Jesus Sepúlveda Muñoz4 and Berta Moreno Küstner1
Abstract Background: Patients with schizophrenia and related disorders have more physical problems than the general population. Primary care professionals play an important role in the care of these patients as they are the main entry point into the healthcare system. We aimed to identify patient, general practitioner, and primary care centre factors associated with the number of visits of patients with schizophrenia and related disorders to general practitioners. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 primary care centres belonging to the Clinical Management Unit of Mental Health of the Regional Hospital of Málaga, Spain. The eligible population was composed of patients with schizophrenia and related disorders attending the primary care centres in the study area, and the general practitioners who attend these patients. Our dependent variable was the total number of general practitioner visits made by patients with schizophrenia and related disorders during the 3.5-year observation period. The independent variables were grouped into three: (a) patient variables (sociodemographic and clinical), (b) general practitioner variables, and (c) primary care centre characteristics. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses using the random forest method were performed. Results: A total of 259 patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, 96 general practitioners, and 13 primary care centres were included. The annual mean was 3.9 visits per patient. The results showed that younger general practitioners, patients who were women, patients who were married, some primary care centres to which the patient belonged, taking antipsychotic medication, presenting any cardiovascular risk factor, and more frequency of mental health training sessions at the primary care centre were associated with an increased number of visits to general practitioners. Conclusions: The only general practitioner variable that was associated with the number of visits was age, the older the less contact. There were also patient variables involved in the number of visits. Finally, mental health training for general practitioners was important for these professionals to manage patients with schizophrenia and related disorders. Keywords: Primary health care, Schizophrenia, Use of services
*Correspondence: mccasang@gmail.com 1 Departament of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, Andalusian Group of Psychosocial Research (GAP), Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), University of Malaga, Campus Teatinos, 29071 Malaga, Spain Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Background Patients with schizophrenia have high levels of
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