1ST CONTACT WITH THE PSYCHIATRIC-TREATMENT ORGANIZATION AND LATER UTILIZATION OF CARE SERVICES - RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF INPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC-TREATMENT VERSUS OUTPATIENT CARE WITH A 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

Fifty-one patients aged 18 to 63 years, new to psychiatry and presenti ng as emergencies at a psychiatric clinic in Oulu, Finland, were rando mly allocated to inpatient or outpatient care. Both groups were follow ed up through hospital records for 5 years. The follow-up period showe d no significant differences between the two groups in the use of psyc hiatric outpatient care. However, the patients who were hospitalized o n their first contact with the psychiatric care organization used more inpatient treatment than the patients allocated to outpatient care. T his finding suggests that the first contact with the psychiatric care organization tends to influence the future use of the mental health se rvices. On the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAFS), the gene ral functioning levels of the two groups did not differ at the 2-year follow-up.