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A 30-year follow-up study of a child psychiatric clientele. I. Demographic description
1Department of Child Psychiatry, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Insights
This 30-year follow-up study of child psychiatric patients found that 54% managed well, but criminal records correlated with divorce, lack of education, and lower socioeconomic status.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Longitudinal Studies
- Public Health
Background:
- Examining the long-term outcomes of individuals treated in child psychiatric departments.
- Assessing the social and health trajectories of a cohort admitted between 1949-1951 in Denmark.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive description of child psychiatric patients 30 years post-hospitalization.
- To compare the cohort's outcomes with the general Danish population.
Main Methods:
- Register-based investigation of 322 child psychiatric patients (189 boys, 133 girls).
- Follow-up data collected as of December 31, 1980, with 93% patient identification.
- Comparison with age-related Danish population data on marital status, education, and socioeconomic class.
Main Results:
- 115 patients (36%) were later admitted to adult psychiatric departments.
- 95 patients (30%) committed criminal offenses; 60 (19%) received disability pensions.
- Statistically significant correlations found between criminal records and divorce, lack of vocational education, and lower socioeconomic status.
Conclusions:
- Approximately 54% of the cohort achieved a good outcome based on employed variables.
- Women showed statistically significant excess mortality.
- Criminal records were associated with adverse social determinants and psychiatric history.
Abstract:
A register investigation was carried out as of December 31, 1980, with the aim of giving a broad description of a child psychiatric clientele 30 years after admission to hospital. The material consists of 322 patients--189 boys (59%) and 133 girls (41%)--who were admitted during the period 1949-1951 to the only 2 child psychiatric departments at that time in Denmark. We succeeded in identifying 93% of the patients. The mean age at the time of analysis was 38.6 years (range 32-46). The material was compared with the age-related Danish population by marital status, vocational education, and socioeconomic class. A total of 115 patients (36%) had been admitted to an adult psychiatric department, and 50 patients only once. A total of 95 patients (30%) had committed criminal offences and 12 had only committed traffic offences. A total of 60 patients (19%) had obtained disability pensions. During the 30-year follow-up period, 19 patients (6%) had died. A statistically significant extra mortality was found only for women. Four patients had committed suicide. By logistic regression analysis, a statistically significant correlation was found between criminal record and admission to psychiatric department and the variables: divorce, no vocational education, and lowest socioeconomic class. About 54% had managed well, judging by the variables employed.