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The EPSILON study of schizophrenia in five European countries

Design and methodology for standardising outcome measures and comparing patterns of care and service costs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Thomas Becker ,
Martin Knapp ,
Helle Charlotte Knudsen ,
Aart Schene ,
Michele Tansella ,
Graham Thornicroft  and
José Luis Vázquez-Barquero
Thomas Becker
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Leipzig
Martin Knapp
Affiliation:
Centre for the Economics of Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and London School of Economics, London
Helle Charlotte Knudsen
Affiliation:
Institute of Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen
Aart Schene
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam
Michele Tansella
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine and Public Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
Graham Thornicroft*
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRiSM), Institute of Psychiatry, London
José Luis Vázquez-Barquero
Affiliation:
Clinical and Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
*
Professor Graham Thornicroft, Section of Community Psychiatry (PRiSM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
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Abstract

Background

There is a lack of cross-national research on care for people with schizophrenia.

Aims

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.

Method

Five centres, in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Santander and Verona, participated. Instruments assessing needs, service use, informal carer 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.

Results

Service provision varied between sites; 404 patients were studied. instrument reliability was found to be good.

Conclusions

The instruments developed were reliable across the range of countries, and will facilitate future comparative health service research.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 175 , Issue 6 , December 1999 , pp. 514 - 521
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Declaration of interest

This study was supported by the European Commission BIOMED-2 Programme.

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