Author: Michael T. Compton, MD, MPH
Published by Medscape; Release Date: April 28, 2006
Valid for credit through April 28, 2007
Credits Available:
Physicians – up to 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM for physicians;
Nurses – 1.2 ANCC continuing education contact hours for nurses (0.0 credits are in the area of pharmacology)
Sample:
Between 30% and 60% of patients do not show up for their first outpatient appointments after hospitalization. Several recent studies have focused increased attention on the issue of nonadherence to psychiatric outpatient visits though research on nonadherence to clinical appointments is much less extensive than research on medication nonadherence. However, it is likely that patients who do not keep their outpatient post-hospitalization appointments will become nonadherent to prescribed medications. Nonadherence to outpatient follow-up is critical to the outcome in schizophrenia. For example, in a managed behavioral healthcare setting, Nelson and colleagues demonstrated that patients who did not attend an outpatient appointment after discharge were twice as likely to be rehospitalized in the same year compared with those who did keep at least 1 outpatient appointment. Other research confirms the utmost importance of follow-up nonadherence with regard to course and outcome of the disorder.There are clinical and policy implications in the study of risk factors for follow-up nonadherence, and a variety of studies have sought to identify the determinants of failure to attend outpatient care.