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Delusional disorder: retrospective analysis of 86 Chinese outpatients.

Patients who visited the psychiatric outpatient service of Chang Gung Medical Centre, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan during an 8-year period were studied retrospectively. Among the 10,418 outpatients, 86 (0.83%) were diagnosed as having DSM-IV delusional disorder (DD), including 61 (70.9%) with persecutory type, 12 (14.0%) with the mixed type, seven (8.1%) with jealous type, two (2.3%) with somatic type, two (2.1%) with unspecified type, one (1.2%) with erotomanic type, and another one with grandiose type. The ratio of women to men was 0.86. The mean age at onset was 42.4 +/- 15.41 years, with women being older than men. Thirty-seven cases (43.0%) presented with depressive symptoms at their first visit. Subjects were divided into four groups: persecutory type, jealous type, mixed type and others. There were no significant differences between the four groups in terms of gender, age at onset, time-lapse before seeking psychiatric help, the presence of hallucination or the presence of depression.

Adult↗

The trade-off between hospital cost and quality of care. An exploratory empirical analysis.

The debate concerning quality of care in hospitals, its "value" and affordability, is increasingly of concern to providers, consumers, and purchasers in the United States and elsewhere. We undertook an exploratory study to estimate the impact on hospital-wide costs if quality-of-care levels were varied. To do so, we obtained costs and service output data regarding 300 U.S. hospitals, representing approximately a 5% cross section of all hospitals operating in 1983; both inpatient and outpatient services were included. The quality-of-care measure used for the exploratory analysis was the ratio of actual deaths in the hospital for the year in question to the forecasted number of deaths for the hospital; the hospital mortality forecaster had earlier (and elsewhere) been built from analyses of 6 million discharge abstracts, and took into account each hospital's actual individual admissions, including key patient descriptors for each admission. Such adjusted death rates have increasingly been used as potential indicators of quality, with recent research lending support for the viability of that linkage. The authors then utilized the economic construct of allocative efficiency relying on "best practices" concepts and peer groupings, built using the "envelopment" philosophy of Data Envelopment Analysis and Pareto efficiency. These analytical techniques estimated the efficiently delivered costs required to meet prespecified levels of quality of care. The marginal additional cost per each death deferred in 1983 was estimated to be approximately $29,000 (in 1990 dollars) for the average efficient hospital. Also, over a feasible range, a 1% increase in the level of quality of care delivered was estimated to increase hospital cost by an average of 1.34%. This estimated elasticity of quality on cost also increased with the number of beds in the hospital.

Comorbidity↗

Initial evaluation of reorganized hospitalization services in a community mental health center.

OBJECTIVE: Two locked inpatient units at an inner-city community mental health center were reorganized as a hospitalization service consisting of a 22-bed intensive care inpatient unit, an acute-treatment day hospital for 20 patients, and a 23-bed transitional residence program. Levels of functioning of hospitalized patients treated before and after the reorganization were compared to determine if the reorganized program as a whole was more effective clinically than the two inpatient units had been. METHODS: The authors retrospectively compared levels of functioning at discharge of random samples of 10 percent of patients treated in the ten months before the reorganization (N = 66) and 10 percent of the intensive care and day hospital patients treated in the same ten calendar months afterward (N = 78). They also compared data on episodes of seclusion and restraint and on patient flow in the two time periods. RESULTS: The mean functional level of intensive care and day hospital patients treated in the reorganized service was significantly higher than the level of inpatients treated before. The mean duration of episodes of seclusion, but not of restraint, decreased significantly. Total service admissions and readmissions increased from 493 to 603. CONCLUSIONS: The reorganized service encouraged patients to function at higher levels. However, such a program must be affiliated with a diversified and well-functioning outpatient service that can divert some potential inpatients to appropriate alternative treatments and help move patients out of the day hospital-residential program when they are stabilized.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Use of public mental health services by Russian refugees.

OBJECTIVES: This study identifies the demographic characteristics and patterns of mental health service use among Russian refugees in New York State. METHODS: Data from a 1995 statewide survey of characteristics of patients served by the New York State mental health system were analyzed using chi square statistics and logistic regression. RESULTS: The demographic characteristics and service-use patterns of Russian refugees are different from those of non-Russian refugees and non-refugees. Russian refugees who used mental health services were likely to be older women with major depression who were enrolled in Medicaid and who were using those services for the first time. Relying heavily on themselves, family members, or friends as referral sources, they tended to use exclusively individual, outpatient services at voluntary, nonprofit agencies. CONCLUSIONS: Existing services systems must recognize the presence of Russian refugees. To improve access and service use, outreach efforts to the refugee community should be conducted, and services must be tailored to meet their mental health needs.

Adult↗

Comparisons: Indian and non-Indian use of psychiatric services.

Major differences were found between the Saskatchewan Indian and non-Indian populations in regard to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, their rates of treatment and the mix of inpatient and outpatient services they receive. Diagnostic and treatment differences between the two populations were more pronounced in the "private" in relation to demographic, socioeconomic and cultural differences between Indian and non-Indian populations and to size and organizational differences between the "public" and "private" treatment sectors.

Ambulatory Care↗

Process of care for battle casualties at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Part II. Physical therapy service.

Physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, and physical therapy technicians provide care to soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We describe the inpatient and outpatient services provided, the problems and solutions encountered, and the lessons learned at the beginning of the war.

Amputation, Surgical↗

[Are we really detecting violence in families of children visiting our health services? The experience of a public health service in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].

Domestic violence, particularly in childhood, is a growing public health concern. Information on morbidity is mostly underreported due to constraints in case detection. This paper analyzes the frequency of events measured actively by outpatient services as compared to spontaneous reports. Information on violence was assessed for 245 families from April to June 2001 using the Conflict Tactics Scales: Parent-Child Version (CTSPC) and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). Cases referred to the Social Work Department provided the caseload for the active search period (12 months). There was a high prevalence of physical violence in the couple, with serious events occurring in 17.0% of the families. In relation to children, cases of "minor" physical aggression were reported in 46.0% of families and serious cases in 9.9%. The spontaneously identified prevalence was 3.3%. This case study demonstrates the missed opportunities for detection and calls attention to the need to review the approach to domestic violence by health services.

Brazil↗

Substance abuse service utilization under managed care: HMOs versus carve-out plans.

Managed behavioral health care organizations are increasingly managing Americans' substance abuse by using carve-outs, but little information is available about how this has affected service utilization and costs when compared to HMOs. One employer's claims for substance abuse services delivered under a carve-out arrangement are compared to prior HMO claims information. Under the carve-out arrangement, inpatient and outpatient service utilization are found to decrease, but intermediate service utilization dramatically increases. Costs per unit service decrease for all services. The pattern of changes is different from that seen for mental health services, suggesting that different factors may be applicable to substance abuse services.

Adult↗

Randomised trial of community-based centre versus conventional hospital management in treatment of alcoholism.

151 problem drinkers (105 men and 46 women) were recruited from the general medical and psychiatric services of a district general hospital and were allocated randomly to a community-based day centre (ACCEPT) or standard hospital inpatient and outpatient services. 115 patients (79%) were followed up at 12 months. The group as a whole showed improvement in all outcome indices at the 3-month follow-up, and this was maintained at 6 and 12 months. Patients assigned to ACCEPT services claimed to have reduced their alcohol intake (55%) more than their hospital counterparts (37%), and this was confirmed by their informants. Patients referred from the psychiatric services reduced their alcohol intake more than those from general medical services. It is concluded that treatment at a community day centre is at least as cost effective as hospital treatment of alcohol abuse.

Adolescent↗

Community mental health services for ethnic minority groups: a test of the cultural responsiveness hypothesis.

This study investigated services received, length of treatment, and outcomes of thousands of Asian-American, African-American, Mexican-American, and White clients using outpatient services in the Los Angeles County mental health system. It tested the hypothesis that therapist-client matches in ethnicity and language are beneficial to clients. Results indicate that Asian Americans and Mexican Americans underutilized, whereas African Americans overutilized, services. African Americans also exhibited less positive treatment outcomes. Furthermore, ethnic match was related to length of treatment for all groups. It was associated with treatment outcomes for Mexican Americans. Among clients who did not speak English as a primary language, ethnic and language match was a predictor of length and outcome of treatment. Thus, the cultural responsiveness hypothesis was partially supported.

Adult↗

Effects of leisure counseling on adult psychiatric outpatients.

This study evaluates the impact of a leisure counseling program on the leisure attitude and self-esteem of adult psychiatric outpatients. Sixteen outpatients at a private psychiatric hospital were assigned to one of two groups. Both groups received traditional outpatient services and programs. The experimental group also received a leisure counseling program that was offered for 10 consecutive weeks. Comparing the adult psychiatric outpatients' group scores to normative data revealed that their leisure attitude and self-esteem were unusual. Over the course of the intervention program, the experimental group relative to the control group experienced no significant change in their leisure attitude and self-esteem. The intervention program did emerge as differentially affecting members of the experimental group depending on their age. A discussion clarifies how leisure counseling and evaluation procedures could be made more appropriate for a psychiatric outpatient population.

Adult↗

The impact of visit frequency on the relationship between service quality and outpatient satisfaction: a South Korean study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative impact of four service quality dimensions on outpatient satisfaction and to test the invariance of the structural relationships between the service quality dimensions and satisfaction across three patient groups of varying numbers of prior visits to the same hospital as outpatients. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Survey of 557 outpatients using a self-administered questionnaire over a 10-day period at a general hospital in Sungnam, South Korea. DATA COLLECTION: Patients answered questions related to two main constructs, patient satisfaction and health care service quality. The health care service quality measures (30 items) were developed based on the results of three focus group interviews and the SERVQUAL scale, while satisfaction (3 items) was measured using a previously validated scale. STUDY DESIGN: Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the service quality scale by testing convergent and divergent validity. A structural equation model specifying the four service quality dimensions as exogenous variables and patient satisfaction as an endogenous variable was estimated to assess the relative impact of each of the service quality dimensions on satisfaction. This was followed by a multigroup LISREL analysis that tested the invariance of structural coefficients across three groups with different frequencies of outpatient visits to the hospital. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Findings support the causal relationship between service quality and satisfaction in the context of the South Korean health care environment. The four service quality dimensions showed varying patterns of impact on patient satisfaction across the three different outpatient groups. CONCLUSION: The hospital management needs to be aware of the relative importance of each of the service quality dimensions in satisfaction formation of outpatients, which varies across different hospital utilization groups, and use this in strategic considerations.

Adult↗

Personality correlates of outpatient mental health service utilization: findings from the U.S. national comorbidity survey.

OBJECTIVE: The present paper investigated the relationships between several personality constructs and the use of outpatient mental health services. METHODS: Respondents were from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) Part II data set and included those with a past-year mood, anxiety, alcohol/substance use disorder (n=1750). Bivariate logistic regressions were used to examine associations between participants' self-reports of personality traits and outpatient mental health service utilization. Similar multivariate analyses were used to investigate these associations after adjusting for sociodemographic variables and the presence of psychiatric disorders and their comorbidity. RESULTS: The bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant positive associations between outpatient mental health service utilization and both Powerful Others Locus of Control and Self-criticism. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that personality traits may play a role in treatment seeking behaviors for mental health problems over and above the presence of psychiatric disorders alone. The assessment of relevant personality constructs has the potential to inform and improve treatment outreach efforts.

Adolescent↗

[Profile of the nurse in the outpatient units of INAMPS in Brazil. O Instituto Nacional de Assistência Médica da Previdência Social].

The objective of this study was to outline a profile of the nurses working within the INAMPS (National Health Service) outpatients centers in Brasil. Its purpose was to offer some assistance on the understanding of the subject, to the nursing educational system, to the employers of the product of that system, to the nurses' associations and to the nurses themselves. In the pursue of the objective, the author depicted: personal and professional traits of the nurses; job satisfaction and perceived support from the administration; the most frequent nurses activities performed. It also established the relations between nurses traits, job satisfaction, perceived support, and activities performed. Data was collected from March to December 1984. The questionnaires were sent to the universe of working nurses in the outpatient centers--1158 nurses. 927 (80.1%) answers were obtained. The population studied represented: 94.3% female, majority married; 30 to 40 years old, year of graduation and year of admission in the INAMPS in the 70's. Gross results were: job satisfaction 83.6%, perception of support from administration 75.2%, prepared as specialists 71.3%, and frequence to continuing educational programs 84.1%. Mains activities performed by nurses in decreasing order: supervision of nursing personnel 39.3%, direct nursing care 36.7%, teaching of patients and families 21.7%, administrative--functions 17.9%, and inservice training of personnel 3.6%. No relation was demonstrated between graduate preparation and job satisfaction nor perceived support from administration. Positive relation was found between educative activities and job satisfaction, and between supervision of nursing personnel or performance of administrative functions and perception of support from the administration.

Adult↗

Third-party fee for service in children's mental health: limitation and suggestions.

The current third-party fee-for-service mode of reimbursement for mental health services emphasizes individual, pathology-oriented intervention and thus has disadvantages for clients and carriers. This article focuses on the mode's effects on outpatient services for children, youth, and families. It examines the ways in which common payment modes seriously limit services and create an incentive for psychologists to take a narrow, often nonempirical, perspective. Suggestions that allow for multisystem, ecological skill building hinge on building relationships between psychologists and the carriers. Desired results take two forms: modification of contingencies between providers and carriers and modification of contingency between insured and carrier. Examples of each are presented.

Adolescent↗

Methodological challenges in assessing children's mental health services utilization.

This paper describes the reliability and validity of the service assessment for children and adolescents (SACA) for use among Spanish-speaking respondents. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was assessed in a randomly selected clinical sample of 146 Puerto Rican children and adolescents aged 4-17. Both parents and children were administered the SACA twice by independent interviewers over an average 12-day follow-up period. The accuracy of parental and youth self-reports was assessed by comparing these reports to information obtained from medical records. The results showed that parents and children (aged 11-17) were able to report with fair to moderate reliability any last year use of mental health services, any outpatient mental health services, and school services. Residential and hospitalization services were reported by both informants with substantial test-retest reliability. Slight or no test-retest reliability was obtained for parent and child on the use of the specific type of mental health professionals, as well as parental reports of several treatment modalities. Substantial sensitivity of the SACA was obtained when comparing medical records to parental and child reports to lifetime use of any service and outpatient mental health service. Moderate sensitivity was obtained for last year use of mental health services for both parent and child informants.

Adolescent↗

Female veterans' use of health care services.

The number of female veterans has more than doubled in the last 15 years, and this growth is expected to continue. This study examines the current utilization of both overall and Veterans Administration (VA) health care services by female veterans. Current utilization is studied as a set of contact decisions: whether or not to utilize any inpatient, VA inpatient, any outpatient, and VA outpatient services. Probit regression is used to estimate these dichotomous choices. Results indicate that health status and some demographic variables are significantly related to the use of all four types of care. In addition, use of other VA benefits, the absence of private insurance coverage, and low income are predictors of use of the VA.

Aged↗

The regional differences in prevalence, medical expenditures and risk factors for injury in Taiwanese teenagers.

BACKGROUND: Injury is the leading cause of death in teenagers worldwide. In Taiwan, people in mountainous areas have a 4 to 8 years shorter life span than the general population. Injury among teenagers is likely a major cause. The objective of this study was to investigate the regional differences in the prevalence, the risk factors, and the medical expenditures for injury among Taiwanese teenagers. METHOD: An equal probability national sample was used. In addition, representative samples from mountainous areas and offshore islands were used. Only those who aged between 12 and 21 years, and signed the consent form permitting us to link their National Health Insurance (NHI) claim data were included in the analysis. Injury-related visits and expenditures in outpatient services were extracted from the NHI data. Logistic regression was used to examine the factors associated with injury. For those who had injury related outpatient visits, mixed model was used to examine the factors associated with medical expenditures accounting for multiple visits by the same individual. RESULTS: The prevalence of nonfatal injury was around 30% of teenagers in Taiwan. It was 10% higher in mountainous areas. Factors associated with injury were those who lived in mountainous areas (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.7; 95%; confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-2.3), males (OR: 1.3; 95%; CI: 1.1-1.6), older teens (18-21 years old), and those with risk behavior were positively associated with injury. These factors were also associated with the number of injury-related outpatient visits. However, teenagers in mountainous areas did not spend more on medical care than those who lived in metropolitan Taiwan. CONCLUSION: Around 30% of the teenagers were injured in a year, not including the dead. Each of the injured spent at least 851.4NTD (approximately 27USD) for outpatient visits. The scope of the problem was not trivial. Hazardous environments and high-risk behaviors were the universal causes. In remote areas, lack of medical resources was another possibility. Empowering local people to design prevention programs according to their needs is recommended.

Adolescent↗