Résumé
Background: Negative symptoms (NS) represent an important unmet need in schizophrenia (SZ) assessment and management. The NS are often poorly recognized, and their evaluation is often not in agreement with current conceptualization. Moreover NS present limited response to the currently available treatments and their presence is linked to worse functioning and quality of life of SZ patients. Clinical tools for NS evaluation and European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on NS assessment and treatment have been developed. However, this progress has not yet significantly influenced everyday clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate the competence and confidence of European Early Career Psychiatrists (ECPs) in NS evaluation and management.Methods: The CARE project was a cross-sectional online survey directed towards ECPs from European countries.Results: A total of 828 ECPs’ responses were collected from 19 countries. The majority of respondents were trainees (65.8%). Most ECPs reported NS theoretical courses and placements in clinics/wards specialised in SZ care (67.9% and 70.3%, respectively). Extracurricular training in NS was reported by 51.1% and engagement in clinical research by 46.1%. A minority (11%) correctly identified NS domains, although most ECPs (65.7%) felt well-trained on NS assessment tools. A few ECPs (15.9%) correctly answered questions on the EPA guidance papers. Competence was reported by 46.7% and 25.9% ECPs in NS evaluation and management, respectively. Male gender, specialist status, engagement in clinical research, theoretical training in NS, and placements in specialised SZ care wards predicted self-reported sense of competence in NS evaluation and management, but only engagement in clinical research, specialist status and extracurricular training in NS were predictive of in-depth NS knowledge.Conclusions: Poor knowledge of NS was observed in ECPs, although most of them reported training in NS as part of their specialist curriculum. Actions need to be taken to ensure that ECPs receive the highest standard of training in NS.