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Longitudinal patterns of care for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder
Author(s) -
Ronis David L.,
Bates Elizabeth W.,
Garfein Adam J.,
Buit Barbara K.,
Falcon Spencer P.,
Liberzon Israel
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.2490090407
Subject(s) - psychiatry , mental health , depression (economics) , posttraumatic stress , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , anxiety disorder , mental health service , medicine , psychology , clinical psychology , anxiety , economics , macroeconomics
This study assessed patterns of mental health service use over time by patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — as compared with patients with schizophrenia and major depression — with emphasis on the persistence and episodic versus continuous nature of use. Data on utilization were extracted from Veterans Health Administration (VA) administrative data bases. Temporal patterns of use were categorized into intervals of inpatient, outpatient, and no use. PTSD patients used substantial amounts of mental health services, but averaged 2.2 nonuse intervals lasting more than 100 days each, implying that use was episodic. Use of mental health services by patients with PTSD is substantial, persistent, and quite episodic. To the extent that use of services reflects the course of the disorder, the results suggest that remissions are usually followed by relapse, and that absence of symptoms does not mean that the disorder has run its course.