[Effects of treatment duration on the interpretation of ROM data in ACT patients]

Patients with severe mental illness (SMI) generally receive long-term treatment. Interrupting treatment or leaving treatment early can lead to problems with the interpretation of routine outcome monitoring (ROM) data.

To describe the link between early drop-out and treatment duration on the one hand, and patient characteristics and scores on a ROM outcome measure, namely the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS), on the other hand.

Annual CANSAS assessments of patients in assertive community treatment (ACT).

2946 CANSAS assessments were performed on 1041 patients who had been treated by an ACT team for an average of 1.4 years since their first ROM assessment. Patients who remained under treatment by an ACT team were more frequently male, born outside the Netherlands and had a psychotic or addiction disorder more frequently than patients who had left the ACT team treatment early. Patients who remained in ACT had, both at the start of treatment and at their last assessment, more unfulfilled needs than patients who had been treated for a shorter period.

For the correct interpretation of ROM data for patients with SMI, one needs to have information about patient characteristics and the treatment duration.