THE NORDIC COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON SECTORIZED PSYCHIATRY - USE OF OUTPATIENT CARE IN SPECIALIST PSYCHIATRIC-SERVICES IN 7 NORDIC CATCHMENT AREAS

The patterns of use of outpatient services during a 1-year follow-up i n seven psychiatric services in four Nordic countries were explored as a part of a Nordic comparative study on sectorized psychiatry. One-ye ar treated incidence cohorts were used. Three main patterns of outpati ent care emerged at the service system level. First, in two of the ser vices the outpatient care was dominated by emergency contacts. In four of the services the outpatient care was dominated by scheduled contac ts, and most of the patients had no emergency outpatient contacts at a ll. In one of the services a remarkably large number of (38%) the pati ents had no outpatient contact at all. In addition to the characterist ics of the psychiatric services, the following variables predicted the use emergency outpatient services: self-referral, no inpatient care a nd no planned outpatient contacts during the follow-up, diagnosis of a djustment disorder or functional psychosis, and being on sick leave. T he following variables predicted several scheduled outpatient contacts during the follow-up: no inpatient care and two or more emergency out patient contacts during the follow-up, female gender, age less than 65 years, no previous inpatient care, and diagnosis of non-organic psych osis, neurosis, or personality disorder.