title: Psychiatric patients and treatments in 1997: findings from the American Psychiatric Practice Research Network.
abstract: Despite extensive studies on the epidemiology of mental disorders and advances in the treatment of these conditions, there is a paucity of detailed information concerning the characteristics of psychiatric patients and how treatments are administered in routine psychiatric practice. This 1997 observational study collected detailed information from 417 psychiatrists on the demographic, diagnostic, clinical, and treatment characteristics of a systematic sample of 1228 patients. Six hundred thirty-seven patients (51.9%) were women and the mean patient age was 41.9 years. The most common diagnostic category (53.7%) was mood disorders, followed by schizophrenia/psychotic disorders (14.6%), anxiety disorders (9.3%), and disorders of childhood (7.7%). Six hundred seventy-one patients (54.6%) had at least one comorbid Axis I condition and almost half (49.8%) had a history of psychiatric hospitalization. Patients received a mean of 2.0 psychotherapeutic medications, most commonly antidepressants (62.3%). Findings demonstrate that psychiatrists in routine practice treat a patient population with severe, complex conditions.
authors.affiliation: Office of Research, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC 20005, USA. hpincus@psych.org
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Pincus
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Zarin
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Tanielian
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pettit
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology