Preliminary Findings on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents in an Inpatient Secure Adolescent Unit

Abstract

To date there is limited research examining the use of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) with adolescents in secure care. The aim of this article is to examine the inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity and clinical utility of HoNOSCA in an adolescent secure psychiatric unit. Twenty-four adolescents aged 13–18 years met the criteria and took part in the study. The HoNOSCA was completed by two raters, and the Children's Global Assessment Scale/Global Assessment Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were administered. The mean total HoNOSCA score was consistent with previous studies using adolescent inpatient samples. The inter-rater reliability of HoNOSCA total scores and domain scores was significant. Concurrent validity in relation to the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Global Assessment Scale/Children's Global Assessment Scale was adequate. In conclusion, several issues were highlighted with regard to assessing outcome in this setting, and modifications have been suggested in order to make the scale more suitable to this patient group.