Fewer re-admissions and bed days following an intensive transitional post-discharge aftercare programme for a mixed diagnostic group of patients

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fewer re-admissions and bed days following an intensive transitional post-discharge aftercare programme for a mixed diagnostic group of patients

AU - Nilsson, Maria

AU - Mir, Shazia

AU - Larsen, Jens Knud

AU - Arnfred, Sidse

PY - 2014/10/1

Y1 - 2014/10/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: The organization of aftercare is important for a successful outcome; still the optimal organization has not been fully explored. An intensive transitional post-discharge aftercare (TA) programme, for a mixed group of non-psychotic patients, was recently developed. Patients with non-psychotic diagnoses are often discharged with low well-being while still symptomatic, placing high demands on aftercare.AIMS: To evaluate retrospectively the short and long-term mental healthcare service use during and after the TA programme compared with the service use of a retrospective comparison group (RC), receiving less intensive outpatient aftercare.METHODS: Number of re-admissions, bed days and emergency visits after 10 weeks, 6 months and 1 year was retrospectively collected from electronic patient registers. Descriptive statistics, independent samples T-tests and repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the groups.RESULTS: The majority of patients in both groups suffered from affective disorders, followed by personality disorders and a small number of other psychiatric diagnoses. Service use in the TA group was lower than in the RC group with fewer bed days after 10 weeks (P = 0.01) and after 6 months (P = 0.003), and fewer re-admissions after 6-12 months (P = 0.04). Emergency contacts did not differ significantly between the two groups at any point.CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates beneficial effects of intensive TA, for a mixed group of non-psychotic patients. The lower service use in the TA programme group is in line with day treatment programme research for patients with affective disorders.

AB - BACKGROUND: The organization of aftercare is important for a successful outcome; still the optimal organization has not been fully explored. An intensive transitional post-discharge aftercare (TA) programme, for a mixed group of non-psychotic patients, was recently developed. Patients with non-psychotic diagnoses are often discharged with low well-being while still symptomatic, placing high demands on aftercare.AIMS: To evaluate retrospectively the short and long-term mental healthcare service use during and after the TA programme compared with the service use of a retrospective comparison group (RC), receiving less intensive outpatient aftercare.METHODS: Number of re-admissions, bed days and emergency visits after 10 weeks, 6 months and 1 year was retrospectively collected from electronic patient registers. Descriptive statistics, independent samples T-tests and repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the groups.RESULTS: The majority of patients in both groups suffered from affective disorders, followed by personality disorders and a small number of other psychiatric diagnoses. Service use in the TA group was lower than in the RC group with fewer bed days after 10 weeks (P = 0.01) and after 6 months (P = 0.003), and fewer re-admissions after 6-12 months (P = 0.04). Emergency contacts did not differ significantly between the two groups at any point.CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates beneficial effects of intensive TA, for a mixed group of non-psychotic patients. The lower service use in the TA programme group is in line with day treatment programme research for patients with affective disorders.

KW - Adult

KW - Aftercare

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Length of Stay

KW - Male

KW - Mental Disorders

KW - Mental Health Services

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Mood Disorders

KW - Patient Discharge

KW - Patient Readmission

KW - Personality Disorders

KW - Program Evaluation

KW - Retrospective Studies

U2 - 10.3109/08039488.2013.877073

DO - 10.3109/08039488.2013.877073

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24476588

SN - 0803-9488

VL - 68

SP - 500

EP - 506

JO - Nordic Journal of Psychiatry

JF - Nordic Journal of Psychiatry

IS - 7

ER -