Treatment dropout at a secondary mental health service.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate mental health dropout rates in secondary care and to identify possible associations between this variable and social, demographic, psychopathologic, and health care process-related variables.


METHODS
This prospective, observational study included 994 patients referred to a secondary service by four primary care units and evaluated by a specialist mental health team between 2004 and 2008. The dependent variable was treatment dropout. Bivariate analyses investigated possible associations between treatment dropout and 57 independent variables.


RESULTS
The overall dropout rate from specialist mental health treatment was relatively low (mean = 25.6%). Only four independent variables were associated with dropout: one socioeconomic, two psychopathological, and one health care process variable. All associations were marginally significant (p < 0.1).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that family members, patients, and health care professionals are well engaged in this mental health care system based on a model of primary care. The use of this mental health model of care should be extended to other regions of our country.
Department of Clinical Practice, Medical School, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
Mário Sérgio
MS
Ribeiro
UFJF.
José Cândido Caldeira
JC
Xavier Júnior
UFJF.
Tiago Rodrigues
TR
Mascarenhas
UFJF.
Priscila Matthiesen
PM
Silva
UFJF.
Eveline Maria de Melo
EM
Vieira
Department of Statistics, Instituto de Ciência Exatas, UFJF.
Luiz Cláudio
LC
Ribeiro