Measure of clinical improvement in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders: an evaluation of multiple perspectives with HoNOSCA

Abstract

Introduction Routine outcome assessment is helpful to inform decision-making, resource allocation, and health policy design. Routine outcome assessment in the hospital setting for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders remains limited. The clinical instrument HoNOSCA (Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents), which has recently become available in Spanish and Catalan, allows outcome assessment in this population from the perspective of patients, their parents or legal guardians, and clinicians. HoNOSCA measures 13 areas of health and psychosocial functioning. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess mental health outcomes in psychiatric day hospital pediatric patients from three perspectives (patient, parent/legal guardian, clinician), using the Spanish and Catalan versions of HoNOSCA. Methods We recruited patients up to 18 years old with any psychiatric disorder at the day unit of the Salut Mental Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari (Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain). We obtained admission and discharge HoNOSCA scores for the patients, their parents or legal guardians, and their clinicians. Results We recruited 99 patients over the study period (January 2015 to December 2017), 11 of which were lost to follow-up. Among the remaining 88, we found significant improvement in HoNOSCA scores from admission to discharge. Agreement between the HoNOSCA scores for the three different groups of evaluators (patients, parents/legal guardians, and clinicians) was weak at admission but better at discharge. In general, evaluations from patients and their parents or legal guardians had lower HoNOSCA scores (indicating a better mental health status) at admission compared to those from clinicians. At discharge, however, the scores were more homogenous across the three groups of stakeholders. Conclusions Use of HoNOSCA allows for routine evaluation of mental health outcomes in the psychiatric day hospital setting from the perspective of patients, their parents or legal guardians, and clinicians.

Keywords

• child
• adolescent
• mental health services
• outcome assessment
• psychiatric department
• hospital
• psychometrics/instrumentation