ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study examined dropout-related factors at the Outpatient Eating Disorders Treatment Programme. METHOD: One hundred ninety-six eating disorders patients following DSM-IV diagnostic criteria that consecutively commenced treatment were recruited and followed up for a 2-year period. A total of 151 patients completed the whole assessment with a set of questionnaires evaluating eating and general psychopathology. The Attitudes towards Change in Eating Disorders questionnaire was used, and personality was evaluated using the Temperament and Character Inventory. During the follow-up period, patients were re-assessed. Two years later, 102 patients continued on treatment. RESULTS: Scores on Precontemplation at the beginning were predictors for dropout at 2-year follow-up. Character variables, as Responsibility, Integrity and Self-acceptance were protective factors to be at Precontemplation stage. DISCUSSION: The clinician's challenge is to help eating disorders patients to develop an unyielding sense of responsibility and self-acceptance, aimed to integrate the therapeutic choice into their own intrapersonal frame of goals.
Subject(s)
Feeding and Eating Disorders/psychology , Patient Dropouts/psychology , Personality , Self Concept , Adolescent , Adult , Anxiety/psychology , Attitude , Depression/psychology , Feeding and Eating Disorders/therapy , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Personality Inventory , Treatment OutcomeSubject(s)
Hospitals, Psychiatric/history , Mental Disorders/history , History, 15th Century , History, Medieval , Humans , SpainABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Bipolar patients recruited for studies are usually picked from Bipolar Disorder Units, which only contain a fraction of the total population of patients with bipolar disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the course of the illness is comparable in patients from a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) and those from a Bipolar Disorder Unit (BDU). METHODS: This study was carried out at the La Fe Teaching Hospital BDU and two CMCH. Data were collected from the patients' clinical records and were completed by a face-toface interview. When the latter was not possible, a telephone interview was carried out. Demographic, clinical and course-of-illness variables were gathered. RESULTS: There were no differences in demographic characteristics between the two patient groups. Differences were found in clinical data: BDU patients were younger at illness onset (p<0.005), were admitted more frequently (p<0.05), and stayed longer in the hospital (p<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar patients treated at a CMHC show clear differences compared with those from a BDU. Consequently, care should be exercised when generalizing the clinical course of bipolar patients using BDU samples. These patients are not representative of the total bipolar patient population, as their clinical course is more complicated.
