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Loss to follow-up in longitudinal psychiatric research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2011

Tilly Eichler ,
Matthias Schützwohl ,
Stefan Priebe ,
Donna Wright ,
Tomasz Adamowski ,
Joanna Rymaszewska ,
Petr Nawka ,
Ladislav Ocvár ,
Eva Kitzlerova  and
Jiri Raboch
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Tilly Eichler*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany)
Matthias Schützwohl
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany)
Stefan Priebe
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry Barts' and The London School of Medicine, London (United Kingdom)
Donna Wright
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry Barts' and The London School of Medicine, London (United Kingdom)
Tomasz Adamowski
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw University of Medicine, Wroclaw (Poland)
Joanna Rymaszewska
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw University of Medicine, Wroclaw (Poland)
Petr Nawka
Affiliation:
Michalovce Psychiatric Hospital, Michalovce (Slovak Republic)
Ladislav Ocvár
Affiliation:
Michalovce Psychiatric Hospital, Michalovce (Slovak Republic)
Eva Kitzlerova
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, First Medical Faculty, Charles University of Prague, Prague (Czech Republic)
Jiri Raboch
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, First Medical Faculty, Charles University of Prague, Prague (Czech Republic)
Thomas W. Kallert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany)
*
Address tor correspondence: T. Eichler, Dresden University of Technology, Institute for Psychology and Psychotherapy, Chemnitzer Str. 46, 01187 Dresden, (Germany). E-mail: eichler@psychologie.tu-dresden.de
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Summary

Aims – To analyse factors that differentiate patients who attend follow-up assessments versus those who do not, and to identify predictors for drop-out within the context of the European Day Hospital Evaluation Study (EDEN-Study). Methods – The EDEN-Study, a multi-center RCT comparing acute psychiatric day care with inpatient care, required re-assessment of patients at discharge, 3 and 12 months after discharge. Follow-up rates varied between 54.0% and 99.5%. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who did and did not attend follow-up were analysed using uni- and multivariate statistical methods. Results – Univariate analyses showed differences between patients regarding study site, treatment setting, living situation, employment, age, psychopathological symptoms and treatment satisfaction. They were not confirmed in multivariate analyses thus meaningful predictors of drop-out could not be identified. Conclusions – Results emphasize the general need to compare patients re-assessed and not re-assessed in terms of their most relevant socio-demographic and clinical variables to assess the generalizability of results.

Declaration of Interest: EDEN (Psychiatric day hospital treatment: An alternative to inpatient treatment, being cost-effective and minimizing post-treatment needs for care? An evaluative study in European countries with different care systems) was funded by the European Commission (Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources Programme: QLG4-CT-2000-01700). Additional national grants supporting the project were provided by Roland-Ernst-Stiftung für Gesundheitswesen and the Faculty of Medicine at the Dresden University of Technology, the National Health Service Executive Organization and Management Programme, the Polish National Committee of Scientific Affairs, and the Slovak Ministry of Education. Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company supported travel and accommodation for EDEN project meetings.

Keywords

loss to follow-uppredictorsrandomized controlled trialacute psychiatric day care
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 138 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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