Re: Using Global Assessment of Functioning to Evaluate an Assertive Community Treatment Program

Tibbo and oth ers (1) re port sig nifi cant im prove ment in func tion ing in a large co hort of in di vidu als with se ri ous men tal ill ness who re ceived care in an as ser tive com mu nity treat ment (ACT) pro gram in Ed mon ton. They base their con clu sions on sta tis ti cally sig nifi cant im prove ment in Global As sess ment of Func tion ing (GAF) scores over a 3year pe riod fol low ing ad mis sion to the pro gram. Their re sults sug gest that pa tients with lower base line GAF and those with di ag no ses of schizo phre nia, schi zoaf fec tive dis or der, and dysthymia are more likely to bene fit from ACT than those with di ag no ses of de lu sional dis or der, bi po lar dis or der, and de pres sion.