Lennox N, Chaplin R
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1996 Dec;30(6):774-80. doi: 10.3109/00048679609065044.
This study was undertaken to establish the perceptions of psychiatrists regarding the care of people of intellectual disabilities.
A 28-item self-administered questionnaire was developed, piloted and sent on two occasions to 467 psychiatrists who receive the newsletter of the Victorian branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. The questionnaire incorporated a Likert scale to document the opinions of the respondents.
A response rate of 51.1% was achieved. The respondents indicated that, in their opinion, people with intellectual disabilities receive a poor standard of care in the inpatient and community setting. To improve this situation, the following strategies were recommended: the development of improved liaison between services; improved training for all personnel who provide services to people with intellectual disabilities; the development of greater resources; and support for professionals working in the area. The study also indicates that there is a core group of very interested psychiatrists who are currently practising and that people with intellectual disabilities are accessing private psychiatric services. In addition, the results suggest that diagnostic overshadowing is not a major barrier to psychiatric assessment, and that disorders which were presumed to be commonly overlooked by doctors (such as depression) are in fact frequently being diagnosed.
Despite some positive findings, the majority of psychiatrists who responded held major concerns about the situation of people with intellectual disabilities. To improve the care provided to these people, it is recommended that these concerns are addressed by the psychiatric profession and responsible government departments in conjunction with university departments of psychiatry.
本研究旨在了解精神科医生对智障人士护理的看法。
编制了一份包含28个条目的自填式问卷，先进行预试验，然后分两次发送给467名收到澳大利亚和新西兰皇家精神科医学院维多利亚分会时事通讯的精神科医生。问卷采用李克特量表来记录受访者的意见。
获得了51.1%的回复率。受访者表示，在他们看来，智障人士在住院和社区环境中得到的护理水平很差。为改善这种情况，建议采取以下策略：加强服务之间的联络；为所有为智障人士提供服务的人员提供更好的培训；开发更多资源；以及支持该领域的专业人员。研究还表明，目前有一群非常感兴趣的精神科医生在执业，智障人士正在使用私人精神科服务。此外，结果表明诊断掩盖并非精神科评估的主要障碍，而且那些被认为医生通常会忽视的疾病（如抑郁症）实际上经常被诊断出来。
尽管有一些积极的发现，但大多数回复的精神科医生对智障人士的状况仍存在重大担忧。为改善为这些人提供的护理，建议精神科专业、负责的政府部门与大学精神科系共同解决这些担忧。
