A 16-year follow-up of a child inpatient population

The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term outcomes of children who had been inpatients in a child psychiatry unit. Fifty children, who were consecutive admissions to a Dublin inpatient child psychiatry unit between November 1978 and July 1980, were followed up 16 years later. We obtained some direct information on 33 subjects; of these, 4 subjects had died and 11 subjects (33%) were living abroad. A poor outcome as defined by death, imprisonment, adult psychiatric disorder or unemployment was present in 18 of the 24 subjects (79%) on whom this information was available. We conclude that more support and increased availability of services post discharge are needed.