title: Psychiatrist characteristics related to patient outcome in Japan.
abstract: We evaluated psychiatric care in terms of the relationship between patient outcome (length of stay, Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) at discharge, GAF difference, and GAF change per day) and psychiatrist characteristics (gender and years in psychiatric practice) in patients with schizophrenia, schizotypal, or delusional disorders (ICD-10 codes F20-F29) and in those with mood disorders (ICD-10 codes F30-F39). The sample consisted of inpatients discharged from an institute in Japan between April 2007 and March 2008. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify patient and psychiatrist characteristics related to outcome. We found that psychiatrist characteristics, such as gender and years in practice, were associated with GAF-related outcomes in patients in the F20-F29 and F30-F39 code groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.001, respectively). Patient characteristics and clinical factors such as GAF at admission, ward type, arrival by ambulance, admission type, seclusion, restraint, diagnosis, and patient age, were associated with outcome in both diagnostic groups. These findings show that gender and years in psychiatric practice had a significant effect on psychiatric patient outcome. Further studies in multiple institutes using a follow-up design are necessary to verify these findings.
authors: Department of Health Services, Management and Policy, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan.
authors: Takeru
authors: T
authors: Abe
authors: Megumi
authors: M
authors: Moriya
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Ikeda
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Kuroda
authors: Akihito
authors: A
authors: Hagihara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D007564:Japan; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult