Work

Changes in patient-reported outcomes during admission to a South African psychiatric facility

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Background: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are used as part of clinical practice to determine the impact of the condition and treatment interventions on a patient's health and quality of life. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a self-administered diagnostic tool that has been widely adopted for the detection and monitoring of depression. Aim: This analysis reports the change in PHQ-9 scores from admission to discharge in patients admitted for depression to a South African acute psychiatric facility and aims to quantify the treatment effect of the admission using the PHQ-9 as the measurement tool. Setting: South African acute psychiatric facility. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of all patients admitted to Netcare Akeso acute psychiatric facilities from 01 January 2018 to 31 October 2022. Patients were included if they were ≥ 18 years of age, admitted with a primary International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 code for depression (i.e. F32-F33) and fully completed both an admission and discharge PHQ-9 questionnaire. We excluded facilities focusing only on the treatment of patients with specialised conditions such as addiction or eating disorders. Results: = 10 091/11 515); a treatment effect was seen in 74.5% of patients and a clinically significant improvement was seen in 72.1% of patients. Conclusion: With the average patient reporting a four-fold reduction in the severity of their depression scores, PROMs provide a critical patient-centred window into the benefit that an inpatient admission has on those suffering with depression. Contribution: These changes are consistent with those seen internationally and provide a baseline for understanding the treatment efficacy of an inpatient admission for the treatment of depression.

Source: South African Journal of Psychiatry

DOI: 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v30i0.2258