Premium
Early psychosis intervention service for children and youth: a retrospective chart review of the first four years
Author(s) -
Morris Ashley,
Nixon Mary K.,
Keyes Randy,
Ashmore Douglas
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-7893.2009.00115.x
Subject(s) - psychosis , intervention (counseling) , early psychosis , psychiatry , chart , psychology , service (business) , retrospective cohort study , medicine , clinical psychology , statistics , mathematics , economy , economics
Aims: There are at present no published reports of outpatient Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) service designed for children aged 16 years and under. The objectives of this study are to describe aspects of an outpatient paediatric EPI programme from the time period after the initial pilot and during its first 4 years of service with dedicated staffing. Method: This study employed a retrospective chart review model in which variables were operationalized and then extracted from existing patient medical records spanning a 4‐year time period. Data were then analysed for frequency, mean and range values. Results: Demographic characteristics and service profiles for 56 patients were collected. The majority were male (64.3%) and the mean age was 14.8 years (range: 9–17 years). The average number of days from referral to first in‐person contact was 7.3 days. The most common discharge diagnosis was Bipolar Disorder (38.7%) followed by Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified (25.8%) in those with psychosis, whereas an anxiety disorder was the most common diagnosis in those who were not psychotic. The majority of discharged patients were able to be followed up by community‐based services. Readmission and hospitalization rates for this EPI service were low. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that an EPI model of care extended to a younger age group can be implemented to provide early intervention to youth with a range of psychiatric disorders that present with psychotic symptoms.