BackgroundCaring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress. There could be a better understanding of the connections between caregivers’ representations of schizophrenia and coping styles. This study aims at exploring those connections.MethodsThis correlational descriptive study was conducted with 92 caregivers of individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The participants completed three questionnaires translated and validated in French: (a) a socio-demographic questionnaire, (b) the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia and (c) the Family Coping Questionnaire.ResultsOur results show that illness representations are slightly correlated with coping styles. More specifically, emotional representations are correlated to an emotion-focused coping style centred on coercion, avoidance and resignation.ConclusionOur results are coherent with the Commonsense Model of Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and should enable to develop new interventions for caregivers.

Objective: To collect data on the consultation frequency and demographic profile of victims of violence attending an emergency department (ED) in Switzerland. Methods: We undertook screening of all admitted adult patients (.16 years) in the ED of the CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland, over a 1 month period, using a modified version of the Partner Violence Screen questionnaire. Exclusionary criteria were: life threatening injury (National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics score >4), or inability to understand or speak French, to give oral informed consent, or to be questioned without a family member or accompanying person being present. Data were collected on history of physical and/or psychological violence during the previous 12 months, the type of violence experienced by the patient, and if violence was the reason for the current consultation. Sociodemographic data were obtained from the registration documents.Results: The final sample consisted of 1602 patients (participation rate of 77.2%), with a refusal rate of 1.1%. Violence during the past 12 months was reported by 11.4% of patients. Of the total sample, 25% stated that violence was the reason for the current consultation; of these, 95% of patients were confirmed as victims of violence by the ED physicians. Patients reporting violence were more likely to be young and separated from their partner. Men were more likely to be victims of public violence and women more commonly victims of domestic violence. Conclusions: Based on this monthly prevalence rate, we estimate that over 3000 adults affected by violence consult our ED per annum. This underlines the importance of the problem and the need to address it. Health services organisations should establish measures to improve quality of care for victims. Guidelines and educational programmes for nurses and physicians should be developed in order to enhance providers' skills and basic knowledge of all types of violence, how to recognise and interact appropriately with victims, and where to refer these patients for follow up care in their local networks.

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La violence et ses conséquences sur la santé occupent de plus en plus le champ d’activités des professionnels de la santé. Les services d’urgences sont souvent en première ligne pour accueillir ces victimes ; comme le démontre la littérature. Le dépistage est primordial, car les personnes concernées ne dévoileront pas spontanément leur vécu de violence et n’annonceront pas nécessairement ce motif de consultation. De ce fait, ce problème de santé demeure largement sous-dépisté. Cet article présente le protocole de recherche élaboré pour connaître la prévalence locale dans un service d’urgences d’un hôpital universitaire. Un fort taux de participation (77%) et une prévalence élevée (11,40%), témoignent de l’ampleur de cette problématique.