To investigate the gender difference of early symptoms appearing before the onset of the psychotic symptoms in patients with first-episode schizophrenia, we reviewed the medical records of 63 patients (38 males, 25 females), who were hospitalized for first-episode schizophrenia. The frequency and duration of prodromal and psychotic symptoms, Clinical Global Impression scale scores, Global Asses...

OBJECTIVE Our study uses data from a large clinical trial to further dissect the contributors attitude toward antipsychotic medication measured with the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) in schizophrenia. METHOD A total of 227 consecutive outpatients (140 males, 87 females) with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder according to DSM-IV criteria were evaluated. Structural equation models (SEM)...

OBJECTIVE The study evaluated the effectiveness of day treatment for poorly functioning patients with personality disorders who participated in day treatment consisting of analytically oriented and cognitive-behavioral therapy groups as part of a comprehensive group therapy program. METHODS At admission, discharge, and one year after discharge, patients completed the Global Severity Index (GS...

BACKGROUND The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a widely used measure of psychiatric symptoms and functioning, yet numerous concerns persist about its reliability and validity. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which GAF scores reflect physician-related differences in addition to information about patients. METHODS This is a secondary analysis of clinical dat...

BACKGROUND The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is the standard method and an essential tool for representing a clinician's judgment of a patient's overall level of psychological, social and occupational functioning. As such, it is probably the single most widely used method for assessing impairment among the patients with psychiatric illnesses. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of one-ho...

In their study of rehabilitation services in England, Killaspy and co-authors conclude that 'Quality of care is linked to better clinical outcomes in people with complex and longer-term mental health problems'. 1 We are not persuaded that this conclusion is justified by the results reported. The study investigated the relationship between measures of quality and clinical outcomes across a numbe...

BACKGROUND Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a scoring system for the severity of illness in psychiatry. It is used clinically in many countries, as well as in research, but studies have shown several problems with GAF, for example concerning its validity and reliability. Guidelines for rating are important. The present study aimed to identify the current status of guidelines for rating...

BACKGROUND Risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) has been shown to be efficacious, improve compliance, and increase long-term retention rate on therapy. The aim of this work was to determine the effect of RLAI on clinical outcome and hospitalization rate in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder enrolled in the electronic Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry in Latin A...

INTRODUCTION Reports on the quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of schizophrenia patients are uncommon. Relations of different degree of kinship to caregivers' QOL are unexplored, but may be relevant. The purpose of this study was to assess the subjective QOL of caregivers of stable outpatients with diagnosis of schizophrenia compared with controls, and to assess factors associated with ...

OBJECTIVE The study examined outcomes of clients treated by primary care psychologists in 2010 in the Netherlands. METHODS Data for 55,067 clients treated by 613 primary care psychologists were analyzed for three outcomes: regular conclusion of treatment, improvement of >10 points on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and treatment conclusion in eight or fewer sessions. Logistic regr...