Priority Research Centre for Translational Neuroscience and Mental Health, School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia and Hunter Medical Research Institute Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB), Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2015 Dec;61(8):729-34. doi: 10.1177/0020764015576814. Epub 2015 Apr 1.
Transparent diagnostic communication is considered best practice for clinicians. However, while patients expect to receive a schizophrenia diagnosis from their psychiatrist, research suggests mental health clinicians are often reluctant to provide this information to patients.
This study examines the perceptions of people with schizophrenia surrounding the communication of this diagnosis.
A generic qualitative methodological approach was used. A total of 14 patients with schizophrenia were recruited through community mental health services (n = 10) and the Australia Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB; n = 4) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the experiences and perceptions of people with schizophrenia about the way a schizophrenia diagnosis was communicated by mental health clinicians. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, codes generated and thematic analysis undertaken aided by NVivo.
The majority of participants felt it was beneficial to receive a diagnosis despite acknowledging the distress this information sometimes caused, with many reporting this knowledge gave a sense of relief. It helped to understand their experiences and behaviours, improved their trust in the psychiatric system and increased treatment adherence. However, many reported difficulty in obtaining information about their condition, its treatment and prognosis, and expressed dissatisfaction with the way a diagnosis of schizophrenia was communicated.
Insight into the perceptions and experiences of patients with schizophrenia about how a diagnosis of schizophrenia is communicated is a key outcome of this research. This knowledge will inform the development of future training programmes for mental health clinicians, and influence the clinical practice of health professionals treating patients with schizophrenia.
透明的诊断沟通被认为是临床医生的最佳实践。然而，尽管患者期望从精神科医生那里得到精神分裂症的诊断，但研究表明，心理健康临床医生往往不愿意向患者提供这些信息。
本研究考察了精神分裂症患者对这种诊断信息交流的看法。
采用通用的定性方法学方法。通过新南威尔士州（NSW）的社区精神卫生服务（n=10）和澳大利亚精神分裂症研究银行（ASRB；n=4）共招募了 14 名精神分裂症患者。半结构化访谈用于探索精神分裂症患者对精神健康临床医生交流精神分裂症诊断的方式的经验和看法。使用 NVivo 辅助记录、转录、生成代码和进行主题分析。
大多数参与者认为获得诊断是有益的，尽管他们承认这有时会带来痛苦，许多人报告说，这种知识会带来一种解脱感。这有助于他们理解自己的经历和行为，增强他们对精神病系统的信任，提高治疗的依从性。然而，许多人报告说难以获得有关他们的病情、治疗和预后的信息，并对精神分裂症诊断的沟通方式表示不满。
深入了解精神分裂症患者对精神分裂症诊断沟通方式的看法和体验是本研究的一个关键结果。这些知识将为心理健康临床医生的未来培训计划的制定提供信息，并影响治疗精神分裂症患者的卫生专业人员的临床实践。
