Child and adolescent mental health service use. HoNOSCA as an outcome measure.
BACKGROUND
HoNOSCA (Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents) is a recently developed measure of outcome for use in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).


OBJECTIVE
To examine HoNOSCA's sensitivity to change, convergent validity and clinical usefulness.


METHODS
Prospective study of new CAMHS attenders. Questionnaires completed by clinicians, parents and referrers at initial assessment and after 6 months.


RESULTS
Follow-up HoNOSCAs on 203 children indicated statistically significant change. There were significant associations between change in HoNOSCA scores, changes in other clinician- and parent-rated scales (r = 0.51 to 0.32) and in global outcome ratings by referrers, parents and clinicians. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the summated HoNOSCA scores were high. HoNOSCA change was positively correlated with initial HoNOSCA score (r = 0.46, P < 0.001) and it was linked to psychiatric diagnosis.


CONCLUSIONS
HoNOSCA is a sensitive, valid measure of change among CAMHS attenders.
Garralda
M E
ME
Academic Unit of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Imperial College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
Yates
P
P
Higginson
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010045:Outpatients; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data