Validity of Psychiatric Patients' Self-Reports of Rehospitalization

Abstract

Outcome evaluations of inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation programs have typically included recidivism rates as a primary measure of program effectiveness, although recent studies have refined and expanded outcome criteria (1). Since most follow-up studies report recidivism rates , normative rehospitalization rates have been established from literature reviews (1-3). The reviews are mainly of studies of psychosocial rehabilitation programs, which typically involved patients with chronic disorders. The results of the reviews consistently indicated that 30 to 40 percent ofpaticnts were rehospitalized withi 1 six months after discharge and 35 to 50 percent were rehospitalized within one year. However, in a sixmonth follow-up of 5 14 adult patients who had participated in an inpatient vocational rehabilitation program at a state psychiatric hospital, Pryer and Distefano (4) reported a 15 percent recidivism rate, which was considerably lower than the rates cited in the reviews. As in the Pnyer and Distefano study, outcome measurements in program evaluation research frequently rely on patient responses to mailed questionnaires. The validity of such self-reported data may be