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OBJECTIVE: Psychiatric deinstitutionalization resulted in greater involvement of families in daily care of patients. Family caregivers burden has been described by international researches. In Brazil very few studies investigated family burden with validated scales, perhaps due to the restrict availability of scales to measure this construct. The present study examined the reliability of the Brazilian version of the Family Burden Interview Schedule. METHOD: Scale reliability was assessed through its internal consistency and temporal stability. A sample of 243 family caregivers of psychiatric patients attending public outpatient services were interviewed with the scale. Socio-demographic data were collected with a standardized form. A sub-sample of 42 relatives participated in a re-test, after 3 weeks, for assessment of the scale temporal stability. RESULTS: Cronbach alpha coefficients ranged from 0.58 to 0.90 for global and domains scores. Pearson correlation coefficients and intra-class correlation coefficients for test and retest ranged from 0.54 to 0.90. DISCUSSION: Results for internal consistency were similar to the original scale. Four subscales presented alpha coefficients superior to the original ones. The temporal stability cannot be compared because this analysis was not performed for the original scale. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian version of the scale had good psychometric properties of temporal stability and internal consistency. OBJETIVO: A desinstitucionalização psiquiátrica resultou em maior envolvimento das famílias nos cuidados diários dos pacientes. Pesquisas internacionais constataram a sobrecarga dos familiares, mas, no Brasil, poucas pesquisas a investigaram utilizando escalas validadas, talvez devido à carência de instrumentos de medida deste construto. Este estudo avaliou a confiabilidade da versão brasileira da escala Family Burden Interview Schedule. MÉTODO: Avaliou-se a confiabilidade, em termos da consistência interna e estabilidade temporal. Foram entrevistados 243 familiares cuidadores de pacientes psiquiátricos de serviços públicos de saúde mental. Os dados sociodemográficos foram obtidos por questionário padronizado. Uma subamostra de 42 familiares foi entrevistada novamente, após três semanas, para avaliação da estabilidade temporal teste-reteste. RESULTADOS: Os coeficientes alfa de Cronbach para os escores globais e domínios variaram de 0,58 a 0,90. Os coeficientes de correlação de Pearson e de correlação intraclasse para o teste-reteste foram positivos e significativos, variando de 0,54 a 0,90. DISCUSSÃO: Os resultados da consistência interna foram semelhantes aos da escala original, mas quatro subescalas apresentaram valores de alfa superiores. A estabilidade não pode ser comparada, pois esta não foi avaliada para a escala original. CONCLUSÃO: A versão brasileira da escala apresentou boas propriedades psicométricas de estabilidade temporal e consistência interna.

A não adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso é um fenômeno complexo e universal que se desenvolve gradualmente no curso dos tratamentos psiquiátricos e está relacionado ao agravamento das doenças. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever o perfil de utilização de um psicofármaco na clientela de um serviço de saúde mental comunitário e suas características. Realizamos um estudo retrospectivo, nos prontuários de pacientes que fizeram uso de Decanoato de Haloperidol, num período de 1 ano e 8 meses. Analisamos 167 prontuários. O uso irregular da medicação esteve presente em 60% dos pacientes e reflete um grande risco para ocorrência de recaídas e reinternações. Este perfil configura uma baixa adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso prescrito, o que remete a reflexão sobre quais fatores estão influenciando este comportamento e quais medidas podem ser implementadas na manutenção do tratamento extra-hospitalar destas pessoas. Non-compliance with drug-based treatment is a complex and universal phenomenon that develops gradually during psychiatric treatments, and is related to disease aggravation. The purpose of this study was to describe the profile of using a given medication in the clientele of a community mental healthcare service and its characteristics. We performed a retrospective study in the medical records of patients who used Haloperidol Decanoate in a period of 1 year and 8 months. 167 medical records were analyzed. 60% of the patients presented irregular use of medication, which reflects in high risks of relapse and re-hospitalizations. This profile configures low compliance with the prescribed drug treatment, leading to reflections about which factors influence this behavior and which measures could be implemented in the maintenance of extra-hospital treatment for these patients. La no adhesión al tratamiento medicamentoso es un fenómeno complejo y universal que se desarrolla gradualmente en el curso de los tratamientos psiquiátricos y está relacionado al agravamiento de las enfermedades. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir el perfil de utilización de un psicofármaco en la clientela de un servicio de salud mental comunitaria y sus características. Realizamos un estudio retrospectivo en los registros de pacientes que usaron el Decanoato de Haloperidol, en un período de 1 año y 8 meses. Analizamos 167 registros. El uso irregular de la medicación estuvo presente en 60% de los pacientes y refleja un gran riesgo para el aparecimiento de recaídas y nuevas internaciones. Este perfil configura una baja adhesión al tratamiento medicamentoso prescrito lo que nos lleva a reflexionar sobre cuales serían los factores que están influenciando este comportamiento y cuales serían las medidas que pueden ser implementadas en la manutención del tratamiento de estos sujetos fuera del hospital.

Background:There have been concerns about people with mental health problems living in the community in Iran experiencing harassment.Aims:This study measures the prevalence and nature of harassment experienced by people with mental health problems and compares them with the general population.Methods:Face to face interviews were conducted by trained interviewers to ascertain experiences of harassment. Interviews were carried out with 112 people with mental health problems and with 104 people from the general population.Results:Sixty-one per cent of people with mental health problems reported experiencing harassment, nearly ten times more frequently than those in the general population (7%). Among the people with mental health problems, being female, having higher levels of education, or being unemployed were significantly associated with experiencing harassment. The harassment commonly involved verbal abuse, often made reference to individuals' mental health problems and was primarily committed by family members.Conclusions:A significantly higher prevalence of harassment was reported among individuals with mental health problems living in the community than in the general population sample. Mental health professionals should proactively ask their service users about their experiences in the home, and educational interventions are recommended, particularly for families of people with mental health problems.Declaration of interest:This project was funded by Psychiatric and Psychological Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences