Pattern of Follow-up among Patients Attending the Department of Psychiatry: A Prospective Study

oleh: Harsimran Kaur, Pir Dutt Bansal, Arvind Sharma, Akshara Mishra, Bhavneesh Saini, Rakesh Kumar, Priyanka Bansal, Kavita Moria

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2022-08-01

Deskripsi

Introduction: Adherence to drug regimen is a very important factor for improvement. Dropping out may affect the treatment outcome and also an indication of poor clinical performance. Patient who left the treatment in between can lead to a deterioration in clinical condition, resulting in the need for more intensive therapy that significantly incurs higher social and economic loss. Therefore, improving medication compliance potentially reduces morbidity and suffering of patients and their families, and the cost of rehospitalisation. Aim: To study the pattern of follow-up among patients of various psychiatric disorders and also to study the therapist factors contributing in adherence to treatment and the socio-demographic profile of patients who dropout from study. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective analytical study conducted in the Department of Psychiatry, GGSMCH Faridkot, Punjab, India. Patients were enrolled in for six month from June 2019 to November 2019 and then followed-up in next six month period from December 2019 to May 2020. A total of 500 psychiatric patients were selected by the convenient non probability sampling technique in the age group between 18-45 years who met the inclusion criteria. These patients were evaluated for illness related variables using psychiatric proforma and Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale (CPOSS) was applied. factors affecting the pattern of follow-up, relating to the treatment and its side effects, disease progression as well as therapist-related factors using a semi-structured questionnaire were recorded. The data, thus generated, was subjected to appropriate statistical analysis. Results: In the socio-demographic profile among dropout education status, occupation, and duration of illness, statistically significant difference was found among different disorders (p<0.05). CPOSS scale was applied among three follow-up groups in which highest mean was 53.03±10.05 in regular follow-up group followed by 49.49±9.06 in intermittent and 44.80±10.70 in dropout follow-up group. Total CPOSS mean was 49.19±10.66. Overall results were statistically significant (p=0.0001). Also in the medication, disease and physician related factors among follow-up groups, statistically significant results were found (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study showed that various socio-demographic factors, medication, disease and physician related factors affect the follow-up patterns. So, it is very important to diagnose all these factors to improve adherence among various psychiatric patients.