Measuring use of outpatient care among mentally ill individuals: A comparison of self reports and provider records

T. M. Kashner, T. Suppes, A. J. Rush, K. Z. Altshuler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Psychiatric nurses administered structured interviews to 80 clients in a county mental health clinic. Clients were asked to describe their use of medical and psychiatric outpatient care services during a 180-day period. Responses were compared with medical records abstracted from a comprehensive listing of health care providers. Taken as a group, clients reported only slightly more visits than that found in medical records. Individually, however, client responses were poor predictors of visits reported in provider records. Those considered low utilizers by providers tended to overstate, and high utilizers tended to understate, the number of outpatient visits. Reporting validity did not vary with client demographic characteristics or psychiatric diagnoses.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)31-40
Number of pages10
JournalEvaluation and Program Planning
Volume22
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Keywords

  • Health utilization
  • Measurement
  • Mental illness

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Social Psychology
  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Strategy and Management
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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