Mental health resources and awareness of anxiety and depressive disorders in general hospitals in China

Abstract Background Mental health disorders are common in China. There is a lack of knowledge and resources of mental health in China. Objectives To assess the levels of psychiatric resources and services in general hospitals in China. Methods Data regarding psychiatric departments, wards and staff were collected from 57 general hospitals in four provinces of China (Hubei, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Yunnan) between April 2014 and June 2014. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,200 non-psychiatric clinicians. Results Among the 57 hospitals, 50 provided mental health services, 36 had mental health wards, and seven had neither mental health clinics nor wards. The median number of mental health clinicians was six per hospital. The median number of specialized nurses was 42 per hospital. A total of 1,152 non-psychiatric clinicians with a career duration of 9.4 ± 8.9 years returned completed questionnaires. Only 6.9% reported a good understanding of the manifestation of anxiety and depressive disorders, 4.5% reported a good understanding of the diagnostic criteria, and 3.8% reported a good understanding of the treatment protocols. Discussion There is inadequate awareness of anxiety and depressive disorders among non-psychiatric clinicians in general hospitals in China. This awareness/understanding increased with increasing hospital level.

Survey on the non-psychiatric physician's ability of diagnosis and treatment of depression/anxiety disorders in general hospital / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate the status of the non-psychiatrist' s diagnostic and therapeutic ability of depression/anxiety disorders in 57 General Hospitals.Methods 1 152 non psychiatric clinicians in 57 general hospitals were surveyed.A custom-made questionnaire included the training of mental health-related knowledge which the general hospital physicians received and typical anxiety/depression case analysis.Results Among 1 521 non-psychiatric clinicians,596 (51.74％) clinicians participated the training of psychiatry,562 (48.78％) participated the training of medical psychology and 230(20.97％) clinicians participated the training of Healthy Psychology.In professional setting,59 (5.12％) clinicians participated the training of psychotherapy,255 (22.14％) clinicians had attended related academic symposiums.80(6.94％) clinicians believed that they understand the clinical display of anxiety/depression disorders,52 (4.51％) clinicians expressed the understanding of diagnostic criteria of anxiety/depression disorders and its treatments,while 44(3.82％) clinicians only possessed the knowledge of anxiety/depression disorder treatment.In the typical case analysis,it revealed that 794 (68.89％) clinicians made accurate diagnosis,458(57.68％)clinicians made a choice of medical treatment,764(96.22％) clinicians chose psychotherapy,29 (3.65％) clinicians applied physical therapy,while 438 (55.16％) clinicians combined drug therapy with one or more other therapeutic methods.Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the age(P=-0.093,Exp(B)=0.911)and work experience(P=-0.002,Exp(B) =1.080)significantly contribute to the diagnostic accuracy of non-psychiatrists.Conclusion The non-therapeutic psychiatric clinicians in general hospitals have certain basic knowledge of depression/anxiety disorders with lower level of diagnosis and treatment diagnosis and treatment.And there is bigger difference among different hospitals.

The reliability and validity of schizophrenia cognition rating scale (Chinese version) / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the schizophrenia cognition rating scale ( SCoRS) . Methods 112 cases of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder inpatients were recruited and assessed using the SCoRS( Chinese version) ,the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia (BACS) and personal and social performance scale(PSP). The principle component analysis,reliability analysis and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. Results Standardized Cronbach α = 0.964. All the 20 i-tems were significantly correlated. Except item 1 ,9,18,19 ( r=0. 830,0. 890,0. 871,0. 890) ,the interrater correlation coefficiency (ICC) of the rest of the items was over 0.9. The ICC of global rating scores between two raters was 0. 921. Factor analysis procedure identified three factors. Factor 1 reflected the neurocognitive state; factor 2 reflected the social cognitive state;and factor 3 mainly reflected the daily life function. The SCoRS rating scores were significantly correlated with the BACS and PSP scores. Conclusion The validity and reliability of SCoRS are acceptable. SCoRS is a useful tool for assessing the deficits of the cognitive function for Chinese schizophrenia patients.