LONGITUDINAL PATTERNS OF CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER

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 t he persistence and episodic versus continuous nature of use. Data on u tilization were extracted from Veterans Health Administration (VA) adm inistrative data bases. Temporal patterns of use were categorized into intervals of inpatient, outpatient and no use. PTSD patients used sub stantial amounts of mental health services, but averaged 2.2 nonuse in tervals lasting more than 100 days each, implying that use was episodi c. Use of mental health services by patients with PTSD is substantial, persistent, and quite episodic. To the extent that use of services re flects the course of the disorder, the results suggest that remissions are usually followed by relapse, and that absence of symptoms does no t mean that the disorder has run its course.