The EPSILON study of schizophrenia in five European countries - Design andmethodology for standardising outcome measures and comparing patterns of care and service costs

Background There is a lack of cross-national research on care for people wi th schizophrenia. Aims To produce standardised European versions of five instruments in key a reas of mental health service research in five languages, and to compare da ta from five European countries regarding patients with schizophrenia and m ental health care provision and costs. Method Five centres, in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Santander and Verona , participated. Instruments assessing needs, service use, informal carer in volvement, quality of life, and service satisfaction were subjected to a co nversion procedure including translation, back-translation, focus group dis cussion and reliability assessment. Patients of local mental health service s with a Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry diagnosis of schizophrenia were interviewed. Results Service provision varied between sites; 404 patients were studied. Instrument reliability was found to be good. Conclusions The instruments developed were reliable across the range of cou ntries, and will facilitate future comparative health service research.