Structuring of the Bakirkoy Rehabilitation Form for Patient with Chronic Mental Illness

Abstract

Objective: Rehabilitation plays an important role in the adaptation of patients with chronic mental illnesses to treatment, as well as to the society in the post-treatment period. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the form which was designed for level of rehabilitation needs for patients with chronic mental illness. Methods: In the study, 83 patients with chronic mental illness were admitted. The Bakirkoy Rehabilitation Form for Patient with Chronic Mental Illness (BRFPCM) consists of five sections. The first section contains the socio-demographic properties, substance use, and psychiatric history of the patient. The second section inquires the patient's insight, adaptation to treatment, and the medication used. The scaled third section evaluates the initial and persistent symptoms of the illness in the early and the acute periods, and the patient's needs in the respective fields of daily activities, cooperation in treatment, and social activities. The fourth section inquires the difficulties faced by the family, the family's attitude towards the patient and the illness, and its expectations and lastly, the necessity of educating the family on these issues. An evaluation of the process and the notes of the consultant are provided in the final section. The Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale, The Social Functioning Scale and The Insight Scale were applied to all patients and were compared with the scaled third section of the form. The internal consistency of the BRFPCM was determined by the Cronbach's alpha test, while the test-retest reliability was evaluated using the Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The majority (70%) of the patients was male, and the average age of the patients was 36.6 +/- 8.47. Twenty-eight patients (33.7%) with schizophrenia, 31 (37.3%) patients with schizophrenia in remission, 12 (14.5%) with BTA psychosis, and 12 (14.5%) with bipolar disorder were evaluated. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.82 in the scaled third section. High correlation between the subscale scores of the third section was found at an interval of three months according to the test-retest reliability. Conclusion: The third section of the Rehabilitation Form for Patients with Chronic Mental Illnesses was found to be valid and reliable. In addition to the lack of institutions providing rehabilitation for chronic psychiatric patients in our country, the scales and forms used to evaluate these patients and determine the basic features of their illnesses are not available. The Bakirkoy Chronic Mental Patient Rehabilitation Form has thus been developed in view of our clinical experience and needs. (Archives of Neuropsychiatry 2010; 47:183-95)