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Survey of recognition and treatment of at‐risk mental state by Japanese psychiatrists
Author(s) -
Tsujino Naohisa,
Tagata Hiromi,
Baba Yoko,
Kojima Akiko,
Yamaguchi Taiju,
Katagiri Naoyuki,
Nemoto Takahiro,
Mizuno Masafumi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/pcn.12647
Subject(s) - vignette , at risk mental state , psychiatry , medicine , intervention (counseling) , mental health , mental state , psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology
Aim The importance of early intervention in psychiatry is widely recognized among psychiatrists. However, it is unknown whether precise knowledge of at‐risk mental state has been disseminated. With this survey, we aimed to reveal how Japanese psychiatrists diagnose patients with at‐risk mental state and prescribe treatment strategies for them. Methods Using fictional case vignettes, we conducted a questionnaire survey of psychiatrists ( n = 1399) who worked in Tokyo. We mailed study documents to all eligible participants in November 2015 with a requested return date in December. Results Two hundred and sixty (19.3%) psychiatrists responded to the survey. Their correct diagnosis rates for the patients in the at‐risk mental state vignettes were low (14.6% for the vignette describing at‐risk mental state with attenuated positive symptom syndrome; 13.1% for the vignette describing at‐risk mental state with brief intermittent psychotic syndrome). Many psychiatrists selected pharmacotherapy and antipsychotics to treat patients in the at‐risk mental state vignettes. The psychiatrists who correctly diagnosed patients in the at‐risk mental state vignettes had significantly fewer years of clinical psychiatric experience than did those who diagnosed them as having a non‐at‐risk mental state (12.5 years vs 22.7 years for the vignette describing at‐risk mental state with attenuated positive symptom syndrome, P < 0.01; 14.3 years vs 22.2 years for the vignette describing at‐risk mental state with brief intermittent psychotic syndrome, P < 0.01). Conclusion This study suggests that precise knowledge of at‐risk mental state has not been disseminated among Japanese psychiatrists.