Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known about adolescents’ perceptions about their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the course of routine adolescent psychiatric treatment. The aim of this 1-year follow-up study was to investigate HRQoL and changes in it among youths receiving adolescent psychiatric outpatient treatment.MethodsThe study comprised 158 girls and 82 boys aged 12–14 years from 10 psychiatric outpatient clinics in one Finnish hospital district. Same-aged population controls (210 girls and 162 boys) were randomly collected from comprehensive schools. HRQoL was measured using the 16D instrument. The questionnaire was self-administered when the adolescents entered the polyclinics (= baseline), after a treatment period of 6 months, and after 12 months.ResultsThe mean age of respondents was 13.8 years (SD 0.63). At baseline, the mean HRQoL score of both female and male outpatients was significantly lower than that of population controls (p < 0.001). HRQoL of female patients was significantly worse than that of male patients (p < 0.001). In girls, HRQoL improved continuously during the 12-month follow-up, yet it remained worse than that of female population controls. Among boys, HRQoL was substantially better at the 6-month follow-up than at baseline, but this positive development was no longer seen at the 12-month follow-up.ConclusionsFrom the perspective of HRQoL, girls seem to benefit more than boys from adolescent psychiatric outpatient treatment. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed.
Highlights
Little is known about adolescents’ perceptions about their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the course of routine adolescent psychiatric treatment
We examined whether gender differences in HRQoL exist
As a post hoc analysis, we evaluated whether being on the waiting list for treatment would improve one’s subjective HRQoL scores
Summary
Little is known about adolescents’ perceptions about their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the course of routine adolescent psychiatric treatment The aim of this 1-year follow-up study was to investigate HRQoL and changes in it among youths receiving adolescent psychiatric outpatient treatment. The worldwide pooled prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents is estimated to be 13.4% [7], and approximately half of all lifetime anxiety, mood, impulse control, and substance use disorders start by the age of 14 years [8]. Externalizing disorders, such as conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
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