Regular care and sustained pharmacotherapy are inevitable for people who suff er from
schizophrenia in order to attain an acceptable level of quality of life. The National Health Care
Service Center (Állami Egészségügyi Ellátó Központ) has a health care utilization database
in which individuals can be identifi ed with a specifi c number, but anonymously (pseudoTAJ), and their patient pathways can be retraced. We analyzed the health service utilization
of patients with schizophrenia in the inpatient and outpatient care and the patterns of
prescription and drug dispensing. The results show that in a given year, 30-35% of patients
with schizophrenia do not reach the provision system and do not get adequate (“lege artis”)
therapy. Data concerning the prescription of antipsychotics show that psychiatrists working in
Hungary prefer modern medicinal therapies in accordance with the domestic and international
pharmacotherapeutic guidelines. These fi ndings suggest that proper clinical care is provided
to those patients with schizophrenia and with psychosis in general, who remain in the care
system.
Keywords: antipsychotics, schizophrenia, care system

Introduction: Patients’ attitudes towards psychiatric treatment have an important infl uence
on therapeutic outcome. Health beliefs and the patient’s attitude towards the psychiatrist
and medical treatment are determined by several factors about which there is only a scarce
knowledge. In our study we used the Patient’s Health Belief Questionnaire on Psychiatric
Treatment, PHBQPT) to assess the beliefs and attitudes of patients suff ering from psychiatric
disorders. Methods: We recruited 115 inpatients from the Nyírő Gyula National Institute
of Psychiatry and Addictions. Patients were categorized into 5 classes based on ICD-10
(addictions-F1x; psychotic disorders-F2x; aff ective disorders-F3x; anxiety disorders-F4x; and
personality disorders-F6x). Subjects voluntarily and anonymously completed the PHBQPT
questionnaire and answered 4 additional items regarding their opinion about the effi cacy
of drugs and the placebo eff ect. We compared the scores of the items and the total scores
of subscales of the PHBQPT scale between disorder categories using ANOVA tests. Results:
Total scores did not diff er signifi cantly in our sample compared to those in the publication of
the original version of the PHBQPT scale. The most robust diff erences were found between
patients with addictions and psychotic patients on the external and internal control subscales.
F1x subgroup could also be distinguished from other psychiatric disorders on certain health
belief related items. However, patients with personality disorder and aff ective disorder felt
that the effi cacy of medications in general was the weakest. The impression that in the drug
eff ect is individually modifi ed in case of a given patient was more frequent in the F1x and
F2x groups and rare in the group of subjects with anxiety disorders and personality disorders.
Conclusion: The Hungarian version of the PHBQPT can be used in case of Hungarian psychiatric
patients; the similarity shown by the results points at the fact that attitude towards treatment
is independent of cultural and healthcare system diff erences. Our results highlight that there
are variances between diff erent psychiatric disorders in health belief and attitude towards
drug treatment. Our study emphasizes the importance of thorough assessment of patients’
attitude that is necessary to conceive an eff ective adherence improving intervention.
Keywords: drug attitude; health controlling; health belief; adherence; treatment compliance