title: Methodological advances in the use of recidivism rates to assess mental health treatment programs.
abstract: This study of recidivism rates within a state psychiatric system identifies and controls for a number of flaws in other recidivism studies and provides one of the few direct comparisons between different mental health programs using recidivism rates as a dependent variable. It is not an attempt to predict the likelihood of an individual patient's recidivism or to improve the treatment provided the individual patient. Instead, it is an endeavor to address the issue of using recidivism rates to assess a treatment program's effectiveness and to examine such treatment at the macro- or system wide level.
authors.affiliation: National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA.
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hafemeister
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Banks
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D009518:New York; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012008:Recurrence; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data