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E Sternai

Publications and source records attributed to E Sternai.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Epidemiology of psychiatric care of patients with severe mental disorders in Italy. Rationale and design of a prospective study, and characteristics of the cohort. Italian Collaborative Study Group.

The rationale and design of a large, multicentre, prospective follow-up study on the outcome of severe mental disorders is presented. The study is currently under way in Italy, where psychiatric care has been uniquely characterised since 1978 by the statutory prohibition of admitting patients to psychiatric hospitals. The main purpose of the study is to describe the 5-year outcome of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, paranoid disorder, affective psychosis, reactive psychosis or personality disorder with respect to five areas (clinical condition, personal autonomy, work, and family and social relationships); a secondary objective is to describe the heterogeneity of practices and resources of psychiatric services. The study is being carried out by 76 outpatient psychiatric services throughout the country, covering approximately one-tenth of the Italian population.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Consequences of mental distress recognition in general practice in Italy: a follow-up study. Italian Cooperative Group on Mental Distress in General Practice.

Many reports have been recently published on the accuracy of mental distress detection by general practitioners. Recognition of 'caseness', irrespective of its accuracy, nevertheless determines the implementation of therapeutic interventions. This paper reports the results of a naturalistic study describing the consequences for the patients of being identified as 'cases' in the general practice (in terms of referral strategies at recruitment and outcome 3 months and 1 year later), in the context of care provision generated by the 1978 Italian psychiatric reform. Sixty-eight GPs recruited 878 'cases' according to implicit criteria. Overall 20% of the patients were referred the psychiatric setting; only half of these for psychiatric care. After 3 months and 1 year from recruitment respectively 12% and 23% of the subjects were no longer 'cases'. The factors contributing to predict the outcome at three months were age, symptom duration, comorbidity, presence of social context risk factors and prior psychiatric history (or presence of 'major' symptoms); after one year the predictors of caseness were caseness status at 3 months, and clinical severity, symptom duration and presence of somatization at recruitment. GPs remain the main care providers in the short- and long-term. The results of the study indicate the need for a reappraisal of the emphasis to be put on caseness recognition and on the development of standardized instruments for the identification of mental distress. Non-clinical variables concurring in the definition of caseness in general practice, and the factors influencing physicians' decision-making in the implementation of alternative intervention strategies should be further clarified by ad hoc studies.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Psychological and social support for patients with mastectomies].

Cancer patients need general emotional support but doctors and nurses often fail to recognise patients needs. This literature review aims at demonstrating the effect of social and psychosocial support on breast cancer women. All the article published from 1980 were reviewed. Psychotherapeutic counselling and psychosocial interventions were given by a range of people, including nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and volunteers. Unfortunately the poor quality of the studies, which are often small and poorly controlled, does not allow to make a definitive statement on the impact of psychosocial interventions. The multiplicity of types of intervention and outcomes used make comparisons between studies difficult. However, when considered in conjunction with the evidence that informal social support from partners, friends and relatives is associated with better outcomes, this research highlights the importance of psychosocial factors for breast cancer patients.

Counseling↗