[Therapeutic management of schizophrenic patients and its cost]

The purpose of this study was to observe the treatment of patients suffering from schizophrenic disorders and to assess the cost of this treatment in medical and social terms. The survey based on a questionnaire was sent to 6,000 French psychiatrists practising both in the hospital sector and in the ambulatory sector, whether acting through the national health service or privately. The psychiatrists who accepted to answer (N = 494) described all the treatment and assistance undergone by the last patient suffering from schizophrenia, as defined by the DSM III-R, seen either during a consultation or when hospitalized during the previous year. The clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic information collected for 356 patients treated as out-patients (72%) and 138 hospitalized patients (28%) in the public (49%) or private (51%) sectors underwent medical and economic modelling. The most frequent forms of schizophrenia encountered were paranoid type (48.6%) and those which developed chronically without severe exacerbation (32%). The average length of time between the date of the survey and the first symptoms is on average 11 +/- 8 years and the average length of time between the date of the survey and the first symptoms is on average 11 +/- 8 years and the average length of time between the first hospitalization is 9.5 +/- 8 years. This means that the time between the first symptoms and the first hospitalization is 25 +/- 4 months on average. The average number of previous full-time hospitalizations is 4 and the patients spent 22 months (+/- 48) in hospital on a full-time basis and 26 months (+/- 39) as day patients in hospital, from the start of their disorders. 27% of patients had at least one previous suicide attempt and 28% had already committed a medico-legal act.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)