Association of Supported Employment With Cognitive Functioning and Employment Outcomes.

Objective: Cognitive functioning affects employment outcomes in supported employment. This study examined which cognitive parameters are associated with employment outcomes for persons with mental illnesses and discusses possible mechanisms involved.

Methods: Data stem from a randomized controlled trial conducted as part of the Zürich Impulse Program for the Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services (ZInEP).

Predictors of discontinuation of antipsychotic medication and subsequent outcomes in the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial (EUFEST).

Background: This study had two aims: to describe patients suffering from first-episode schizophrenia who had stopped taking any antipsychotic medication, and to gain information on the predictors of successful discontinuation.

Methods: We investigated data from the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial (EUFEST). From the 325 patients included, 15.

The ZInEP Epidemiology Survey: background, design and methods.

This article introduces the design, sampling, field procedures and instruments used in the ZInEP Epidemiology Survey. This survey is one of six ZInEP projects (Zürcher Impulsprogramm zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung der Psychiatrie, i.e.

Help-seeking in people with exceptional experiences: results from a general population sample.

Background: Exceptional experiences (EE) are experiences that deviate from ordinary experiences, for example precognition, supernatural appearances, or déjà vues. In spite of the high frequency of EE in the general population, little is known about their effect on mental health and about the way people cope with EE. This study aimed to assess the quality and quantity of EE in persons from the Swiss general population, to identify the predictors of their help-seeking, and to determine how many of them approach the mental health system.

[Predicting the Number of Office-Based Psychiatrists Needed in the Future: Potential and Limitations].

Objective: This study discusses the potential and the limitations of medical workforce planning in outpatient psychiatry in Switzerland.

Methods: Hypotheses concerning selected factors influencing the number of office-based psychiatrists needed in the future were formulated. In a next step, those hypotheses were assigned to one of three scenarios (high, constant, and normal need development).

Death has a preference for birthdays-an analysis of death time series.

Purpose: To examine the relation between the day of death and the day of birth. To determine whether the "death postponement" hypothesis or the "anniversary reaction" hypothesis is more appropriate.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Swiss mortality statistics 1969-2008.

The interrelation of needs and quality of life in first-episode schizophrenia.

The interrelation between needs for care and quality of life has been described and replicated by several studies. The present work aims to add to the understanding of longitudinal interrelations between needs for care, quality of life, and other outcome measures by analyzing a sample of patients at the onset of schizophrenia. This study relied on data from the EUFEST trial, designed to compare first- and second-generation antipsychotics during 1 year.

Smoking and psychiatric disorders: have subthreshold disorders been overlooked?

Introduction: The association between smoking and mental disorders has been confirmed by several studies using cross-sectional and retrospective designs. The present study illustrates the need for differentiating subthreshold psychiatric disorders in the analysis.

Methods: The analysis is based on cumulative ("lifetime") prevalences of mental disorders and smoking in the Zurich study.

Adult versus adolescent onset of smoking: how are mood disorders and other risk factors involved?

Aims: To examine the strength of association between smoking and mood disorders and the association between smoking and its traditional risk factors, comparing those who started smoking in adolescence with those who started smoking in early adulthood.

Design And Participants: The analyses relied on prospective data from the Zurich Study. This longitudinal community study started in 1979 with a stratified sample of 591 participants aged 20/21 years, weighted towards those with mental disorders.

Estimating incidence trends in regular heroin use in 26 regions of Switzerland using methadone treatment data.

Background: Regional incidence trends in regular heroin use are important for assessing the effectiveness of drug policies and for forecasting potential future epidemics.

Methods: To estimate incidence trends we applied both the more traditional Reporting Delay Adjustment (RDA) method as well as the new and less data demanding General Inclusion Function (GIF) method. The latter describes the probability of an individual being in substitution treatment depending on time since the onset of heroin use.