Discharges Against Medical Advice From Voluntary Psychiatric Units

In search of predictors of dropout from inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa

“…The overall dropout rate of 33.3% found in the present study is considerably lower than the rate of 49.6% reported by Vanderyecken and Pierloot (1983) but substantially higher than the average rate of 16% reported in the general psychiatric literature (Miles, Adlersberg, Reith, & Cumming, 1976). Inpatients with AN appear to be twice as likely to drop out of treatment compared with inpatients on a general psychiatric ward, an unsurprising finding given the wellknown treatment resistance characteristic of this population.…”

Patient Predictors of Irregular Discharge From Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment

“…Failure to complete treatment is a common problem among patients with substance use disorders. The research literature on dropping out of inpatient psychiatric treatment 1–14 and, more specifically, on dropping out of substance abuse treatment 15–30 has demonstrated the importance of younger age 10,14 and sociopathy 2,6,10,11,13 in identifying early dropouts. The validity of these data is difficult to assess, however, given that 1) some studies used length of stay, rather than discharge status, as the dependent variable; 22,24 2) most studies relied only on univariate analysis without confirmation of multivariate methods; 1,2,5,6,10–12,19 and 3) some of the data available were collected in treatment settings dedicated exclusively to treating alcohol abusers or male veterans 13,21,23 .…”