Predicting outcome for borderline personality disorder

The purpose of this study is to identify variables predictive of the psychosocial outcomes of borderline patients 2 years following an acute psychiatric hospitalization. Of the initial 88 inpatients scoring positive for the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB), 65 (73.8%) were reinterviewed, 14 (15.9%) refused, five (5.7%) were unable to be located, and four (4.6%) suicided. The dropouts (n = 19) were significantly more likely to be single, separated, or divorced, to be male, and to be diagnosed as having co-existing antisocial personality disorder than the followed-up probands (n = 69). In terms of global functioning, over the 2-year follow-up period, 61 (87.7%) of the 69 probands were judged to be functioning normally less than 50% of the follow-up interval. Using logistic regression, two variables, initial impulse action scores and poor premorbid functioning, predicted poor versus good outcome. This study supports the literature, which indicates that the early course of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is stormy. Impulsivity and poor premorbid functioning may be predictive of poor short-term outcome in borderline patients.