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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: We evaluate associations between Body Mass Index (BMI) and suicide risks and methods for individuals receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health system. DESIGN AND METHODS: For 4,005,640 patients in fiscal years 2001-2002, multivariable survival analyses assessed associations between BMI and suicide, through FY2009. Covariates included demographics, psychiatric and non-psychiatric diagnoses, receipt of VHA mental health encounters, and regional network. Among suicide decedents, multivariable Generalized Estimating Equations regression examined associations between BMI and suicide method. RESULTS: 1.3% of patients were underweight, 24.3% normal weight, 40.6% overweight, and 33.8% obese. Underweight was associated with increased suicide risk (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR]=1.17, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.36) compared to normal. Overweight and obese status were associated with lower risk (AHR=0.78, 95% CI: 0.74, 0.82; AHR=0.63, 95% CI: 0.60, 0.66, respectively). Among suicide decedents, high lethality methods were most common among underweight and least common among obese individuals. Adjusting for covariates, BMI was not associated with method lethality, yet some associations were observed between BMI and specific methods. CONCLUSIONS: Among VHA patients, BMI was negatively associated with suicide risks. These differences may partly relate to choice of suicide method. Low BMI offers an additional resource for clinical suicide risk assessments.
Obesity 03/2013; · 4.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE Between 2005 and 2009, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) enhanced its mental health programs and increased outpatient mental health staffing by 52.8%. However, suicide rates among VHA patients remained the same. This study evaluated this finding by examining variability in staffing increases between VHA's 21 regional networks (Veterans Integrated Service Networks) (VISNs) and associations with suicide rates. METHODS Suicide rates among VHA patients were derived from the National Death Index and VHA clinical and administrative records for 2005 and 2009. Comparisons across VISNs used measures of proportional change in mental health staffing (overall and in inpatient, residential, intensive case management, and outpatient programs) and comparable measures of mental health staffing per 1,000 mental health patients. RESULTS Significant correlations were found between proportional changes from 2005 to 2009 in suicide rates and outpatient mental health staffing (r=-.453, p=.039) and outpatient mental health staffing per 1,000 patients (r=-.533, p=.013). The ten VISNs above the median in proportional changes in mental health staffing had average decreases in suicide rates of 12.6% while those below had increases of 11.6% (p=.005). For proportional changes in mental health staffing per 1,000 patients, those above the median had decreases of 11.2% and those below had increases of 13.8% (p=.014). For the average VISN, it would have required a 27.5%-36.8% increase in outpatient staff over 2005 levels to decrease suicide rates by 10%. CONCLUSIONS Mental health enhancements in VHA were associated with decreases in suicide rates in VISNs where the increases in mental health outpatient staffing were greatest.
Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) 03/2013; · 2.81 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES Assertive community treatment (ACT) programs may improve patients' outcomes, in part by increasing adherence to antipsychotic medication. This study assessed the association between ACT enrollment and subsequent antipsychotic adherence. METHODS The authors identified a national sample of 763 Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with schizophrenia who were newly enrolled in ACT in fiscal years 2001 to 2004 and had valid antipsychotic medication possession ratios (MPRs) for five sequential six-month periods, the first occurring before ACT enrollment. Propensity scores were used to match ACT patients 1:1 with eligible veterans who did not initiate ACT. Logistic regression analyses and generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to assess the association between ACT enrollment and subsequent antipsychotic adherence. Antipsychotic adherence was compared among ACT enrollees with high, partial, or no participation in ACT services. RESULTS Before the index date, there was no significant difference in rates of good adherence (MPR ≥.8) among subsequent ACT enrollees (72%) and patients in the control group (70%). However, in each of the four periods after enrollment, ACT enrollees were more likely to have MPRs ≥.8. In GEE analyses, ACT enrollment was associated with 2.3 greater odds of MPRs ≥.8 (95% confidence interval=1.9-2.7). Among ACT enrollees, higher levels of participation were associated with MPRs ≥.8. CONCLUSIONS In this large, national study, ACT enrollment was associated with higher levels of antipsychotic adherence among VA patients with schizophrenia. This association persisted over time and was greatest among those with higher levels of ACT use.
Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) 02/2013; · 2.81 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: The intent of a death from overdose can be difficult to determine. The goal of this study was to examine the association of psychiatric diagnoses among overdose deaths ruled by a medical examiner as intentional, unintentional and indeterminate intent. METHODS: All Veterans Health Administration patients in Fiscal Year 1999 (n=3 291 891) were followed through Fiscal Year 2006. We tested the relative strength of association between psychiatric disorders among types of overdoses (categorised by intent) using multinomial models, adjusted for age, sex, Veterans Affairs priority status and Charlson comorbidity scores. Data were from National Death Index records and patient medical records. RESULTS: Substance use disorders (SUD) had a stronger association with indeterminate intent overdoses than intentional overdoses (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.80, 95% CI 1.47 to 2.22). SUDs also had a stronger association with unintentional overdoses than intentional (AOR=1.48, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.72), but the reverse was true for all other psychiatric disorders (except post-traumatic stress disorder). CONCLUSIONS: Overdoses ruled indeterminate may be misclassified suicide deaths and are important to suicide surveillance and prevention efforts. Additionally, overdose deaths not classified as suicides may include some cases due to suicidal-like thinking without overt suicidal intent.
Injury Prevention 01/2013; · 1.39 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE The study evaluated whether timely postdischarge follow-up, a health system quality indicator, corresponded with improved longer-term posthospital care for depression. METHODS The authors assessed outpatient mental health encounters, including telephone contact, within seven days of discharge among 56,785 Veterans Health Administration patients with an inpatient stay for major depression between 2005 and 2010. They also assessed readmission rates, antidepressant medication coverage, and psychotherapy visits for 90 days following discharge. RESULTS The percentage of patients who received outpatient follow-up within seven days of discharge increased from 39% to 75%. After adjustment for patient characteristics, patients were more likely to receive adequate psychotherapy in 2010 than in 2005 (odds ratio=1.29, 95% confidence interval=1.19-1.40). There were no significant changes in readmission or antidepressant treatment. CONCLUSIONS Timely outpatient follow-up after hospitalization may not reduce readmission or substantially improve longer-term depression treatment, suggesting a need for additional or more effective care processes.
Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) 12/2012; 63(12):1239-42. · 2.81 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) may improve mental health services access and continuity of care. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether receipt of integrated PC-MHI services on the date of an initial positive depression screen influences receipt of depression treatment among primary care (PC) patients in the Veterans Health Administration. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS: Thirty-six thousand, two hundred and sixty-three PC patients with positive depression screens between October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010. MAIN MEASURES: Subjects were assessed for depression diagnosis and initiation of antidepressants or psychotherapy on the screening day, within 12 weeks, and within 6 months. Among individuals with PC encounters on the screening day, setting of services received that day was categorized as PC only, PC-MHI, or Specialty Mental Health (SMH). Using multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) logistic regression, we assessed likelihood of treatment initiation, adjusting for demographic and clinical measures, including depression screening score. KEY RESULTS: Patients who received same-day PC-MHI services were more likely to initiate psychotherapy (OR: 8.16; 95 % CI: 6.54-10.17) and antidepressant medications (OR: 2.33, 95 % CI: 2.10-2.58) within 12 weeks than were those who received only PC services on the screening day. CONCLUSIONS: Receipt of same-day PC-MHI may facilitate timely receipt of depression treatment.
Journal of General Internal Medicine 11/2012; · 2.83 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE In 2007, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system began nationwide implementation of primary care-mental health integration (PC-MHI) programs to enhance mental health access and promote treatment of common mental health conditions for patients in primary care settings. This report describes patients initiating PC-MHI services in fiscal years (FYs) 2008-2010, including those who received prior mental health services. METHODS Using VA administrative records, the investigators examined characteristics and services utilization of individuals who initiated PC-MHI services in FY 2008 (N=76,985), FY 2009 (N=107,417), or FY 2010 (N=149,938). RESULTS PC-MHI service initiation increased by 95%, from 76,985 to 149,938 veterans. Over time, new user cohorts were increasingly younger, newer to VA services, and less likely to have received VA mental health treatment in the prior year. CONCLUSIONS This study documents substantial expansion in VA PC-MHI program activity. PC-MHI program expansion may increase access to mental health services in primary care settings.
Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) 11/2012; 63(11):1137-41. · 2.81 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Comorbid mental disorders are common among suicide decedents. It is unclear if mental disorders in combination confer additive risk for suicide, in other words, if risk associated with two disorders is approximately the sum of the risk conferred by each disorder considered separately, or if there are departures from additivity such that the combined risk is less (i.e., subadditive) or more than additive (i.e., synergistic). Using a retrospective cohort design, all male Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) service users who utilized VHA services in fiscal year (FY) 1999 and were alive at the start or FY 2000 (N = 2,962,810) were analyzed. Individuals were followed until death or the end of FY 2006. Using the VHA National Patient Care Database, diagnoses of mental disorders in FY 1999 were grouped into six categories (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder). In proportional hazards models, 2-way interactions between disorders were used to examine departures from additive risk. There were 7,426 suicide deaths in the study period. Two-way interaction tests were nearly all statistically significant, indicating departures from additivity, and the results of these tests were consistent with subadditive risk. Sensitivity analyses examining the first year of follow-up showed similar results. Subadditive risk may be explained by factors that serve to lower the increased risk associated with a comorbid diagnosis, which may include common underlying causes of mental disorders, difficulties of differential diagnosis, the nature of etiological relationships between mental disorders, and intensive clinical care and monitoring of patients with comorbidity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 10/2012; · 4.86 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Objectives. We assessed whether reductions in inpatient psychiatric beds resulted in transinstitutionalization to nursing home care of patients with serious mental illness (SMI) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Methods. We assessed trends in national and site-level inpatient psychiatric beds and nursing home patient demographics, service use, and functioning from the VHA National Patient Care Database, VHA Service Support Center Bed Control, and VHA Minimum Data Set. We estimated nursing home admission appropriateness using propensity score analyses based on Michigan Medicaid Nursing Facility Level of Care Determinations ratings. Results. From 1999 to 2007, the number of VHA inpatient psychiatric beds declined (43894-40928), the average inpatient length of stay decreased (33.1-19.0 days), and the prevalence of SMI in nursing homes rose (29.4%-43.8%). At site level, psychiatric inpatient bed availability was unrelated to SMI prevalence in nursing home admissions. However, nursing home residents with SMI were more likely to be inappropriately admitted than were residents without SMI (4.0% vs 3.2%). Conclusions. These results suggest the need for increased attention to the long-term care needs of individuals with SMI. Additional steps need to be taken to ensure that patients with SMI are offered appropriate alternatives to nursing home care and receive adequate screening before admission to nursing home treatment. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 18, 2012: e1-e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300783).
American Journal of Public Health 10/2012; · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: For patients with an initial primary care (PC) encounter in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that included a mental health diagnosis, we evaluate whether same-day receipt of Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) services is associated with the likelihood of receiving a subsequent mental-health-related encounter in the following 90 days. METHOD: Using VHA administrative data, we identified 9046 patients who received VHA care for the first time in fiscal year 2009, received a PC encounter that included a mental health diagnosis on the first day of their VHA services and initiated care at a VHA facility that provided PC-MHI services. Using multivariable generalized estimating equations logistic regression, we examined whether receipt of same-day PC-MHI was associated with receipt of a subsequent encounter with a mental health diagnosis within 90 days. Analyses adjusted for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran status, demographic characteristics, service-connected disability, psychiatric and non-psychiatric diagnoses, and psychotropic medication initiation on the index day of service use. RESULTS: Receipt of same-day PC-MHI services was positively associated with having a mental-health-related encounter in the following 90 days (adjusted odds ratio=2.05; 95% confidence interval=1.66-2.54). CONCLUSIONS: PC-MHI services may enhance mental health continuation of care among PC patients with mental health conditions who initiate VHA services.
General hospital psychiatry 10/2012; · 2.67 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To assess, during a period of decreasing psychiatric inpatient utilization, cost savings from Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs for individuals with severe mental illnesses. DATA SOURCE: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) national administrative data for entrants into ACT programs. STUDY DESIGN: An observational study of the effects of ACT enrollment on mental health inpatient utilization and costs in the first 12 months following enrollment. ACT enrollees (N = 2010) were propensity score matched to ACT-eligible non-enrollees (N = 4020). An instrumental variables generalized linear regression approach was used to estimate enrollment effects. RESULTS: Instrumental variables estimates indicate that between FY2001 and FY2004, entry into ACT resulted in a net increase of $4529 in VA costs. Trends in inpatient use among ACT program entrants suggest this effect remained stable after FY2004. However, eligibility for ACT declined 37 percent, because fewer patients met an eligibility standard based on high prior psychiatric inpatient use. CONCLUSIONS: Savings from ACT programs depend on new enrollees' intensity of psychiatric inpatient utilization prior to entering the ACT program. Although a program eligibility standard based on prior psychiatric inpatient use helped to sustain the savings from VA ACT programs, over time, it also resulted in an unintended narrowing of program eligibility.
Health Services Research 05/2012; · 2.16 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Despite concerns regarding elevated psychiatric morbidity and suicide among veterans returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), little is known about the impact of psychiatric conditions on the risk of suicide in these veterans. To inform tailored suicide prevention efforts, it is important to assess interrelationships between OEF/OIF status, psychiatric morbidity, and suicide mortality. This study sought to examine potential associations between OEF/OIF status and suicide mortality among individuals receiving care in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Analyses assessed potential interactions between OEF/OIF status and psychiatric conditions as predictors of suicide.
Analyses included data for all individuals who received VHA services during fiscal year (FY) 2007 or FY08 and were alive at the start of FY08 (N = 5,772,282).
For this cohort, there were 1,920 suicide deaths in FY08, including 96 among OEF/OIF veterans. Controlling for demographic factors, psychiatric conditions, OEF/OIF status, and the interaction between psychiatric conditions and OEF/OIF status, no main effects of OEF/OIF status were observed. However, a significant interaction was found between psychiatric conditions and OEF/OIF status. Specifically, having a diagnosed mental health condition was associated with a greater risk of suicide among OEF/OIF veterans (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.57, 7.55; p < .01) than among non-OEF/OIF veterans (HR = 2.48; 95% CI [2.27, 2.71]; p < .01).
These findings highlight the importance of mental health screening and intervention for OEF/OIF veterans.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 04/2012; 80(3):323-30. · 4.85 Impact Factor
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Marcia Valenstein,
Hyungjin Myra Kim,
Dara Ganoczy,
Daniel Eisenberg,
Paul N Pfeiffer,
Karen Downing,
Katherine Hoggatt,
Mark Ilgen,
Karen L Austin,
Kara Zivin,
Frederic C Blow, John F McCarthy
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ABSTRACT: Studies report mixed findings regarding antidepressant agents and suicide risks, and few examine suicide deaths. Studies using observational data can accrue the large sample sizes needed to examine suicide death, but selection biases must be addressed. We assessed associations between suicide death and treatment with the 7 most commonly used antidepressants in a national sample of Department of Veterans Affairs patients in depression treatment. Multiple analytic strategies were used to address potential selection biases.
We identified Department of Veterans Affairs patients with depression diagnoses and new antidepressant starts between April 1, 1999, and September 30, 2004 (N = 502,179). Conventional Cox regression models, Cox models with inverse probability of treatment weighting, propensity-stratified Cox models, marginal structural models (MSM), and instrumental variable analyses were used to examine relationships between suicide and exposure to bupropion, citalopram, fluoxetine, mirtazapine, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine.
Crude suicide rates varied from 88 to 247 per 100,000 person-years across antidepressant agents. In multiple Cox models and MSMs, sertraline and fluoxetine had lower risks for suicide death than paroxetine. Bupropion had lower risks than several antidepressants in Cox models but not MSMs. Instrumental variable analyses did not find significant differences across antidepressants.
Most antidepressants did not differ in their risk for suicide death. However, across several analytic approaches, although not instrumental variable analyses, fluoxetine and sertraline had lower risks of suicide death than paroxetine. These findings are congruent with the Food and Drug Administration meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials reporting lower risks for "suicidality" for sertraline and a trend toward lower risks with fluoxetine than for other antidepressants. Nevertheless, divergence in findings by analytic approach suggests caution when interpreting results.
Journal of clinical psychopharmacology 04/2012; 32(3):346-53. · 5.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We examined cardiometabolic disease and mortality over 8 years among individuals with and without schizophrenia.
We compared 65,362 patients in the Veteran Affairs (VA) health system with schizophrenia to 65,362 VA patients without serious mental illness (non-SMI) matched on age, service access year and location. The annual prevalence of diagnosed cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality was compared for fiscal years 2000-2007. Mean years of potential life lost (YPLLs) were calculated annually.
The cohort was mostly male (88%) with a mean age of 54 years. Cardiometabolic disease prevalence increased in both groups, with non-SMI patients having higher disease prevalence in most years. Annual between-group differences ranged from <1% to 6%. Annual mortality was stable over time for schizophrenia (3.1%) and non-SMI patients (2.6%). Annual mean YPLLs increased from 12.8 to 15.4 in schizophrenia and from 11.8 to 14.0 for non-SMI groups.
VA patients with and without schizophrenia show increasing but similar prevalence rates of cardiometabolic diseases. YPLLs were high in both groups and only slightly higher among patients with schizophrenia. The findings highlight the complex population served by the VA while suggesting a smaller mortality impact from schizophrenia than previously reported.
General hospital psychiatry 04/2012; 34(4):368-79. · 2.67 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This paper describes the status of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) services implementation and presents an assessment of associations between receipt of PC-MHI services and likelihood of receiving a second specialty mental health (SMH) appointment following an initial SMH encounter. The total PC-MHI service recipients and encounters/month rose substantially between October 2007 and April 2011. Adjusting for important covariates, the likelihood of receiving a second SMH encounter within 3 months of an index SMH appointment was 1.37 times greater among individuals who had received a PC-MHI encounter within 3 months of the initial SMH appointment. Implementation of VHA PC-MHI services has substantially increased VHA capacity to deliver mental health services in primary care and findings indicate that PC-MHI services are associated with greater engagement in SMH treatment. Implementation of VHA PC-MHI services is progressing with new technical assistance strategies being deployed.
Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings 03/2012; 19(1):105-16. · 1.49 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We sought to compare suicide rates among veterans utilizing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services versus those who did not.
Suicide rates from 2005 to 2008 were estimated for veterans in the 16 states that fully participated in the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), using data from the National Death Index, NVDRS, and VHA records.
Between 2005 and 2008, veteran suicide rates differed by age and VHA utilization status. Among men aged 30 years and older, suicide rates were consistently higher among VHA utilizers. However, among men younger than 30 years, rates declined significantly among VHA utilizers while increasing among nonutilizers. Over these years, an increasing proportion of male veterans younger than 30 years received VHA services, and these individuals had a rising prevalence of diagnosed mental health conditions.
The higher rates of suicide for utilizers of VHA among veteran men aged 30 and older were consistent with previous reports about which veterans utilize VHA services. The increasing rates of mental health conditions in utilizers younger than 30 years suggested that the decreasing relative rates in this group were related to the care provided, rather than to selective enrollment of those at lower risk for suicide.
American Journal of Public Health 03/2012; 102 Suppl 1:S105-10. · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We sought to examine rates of suicide among individuals receiving health care services in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities over an 8-year period.
We included annual cohorts of all individuals who received VHA health care services from fiscal year (FY) 2000 through FY 2007 (October 1, 1999-September 30, 2007; N = 8,855,655). Vital status and cause of death were obtained from the National Death Index.
Suicide was more common among VHA patients than members of the general US population. The overall rates of suicide among VHA patients decreased slightly but significantly from 2000 to 2007 (P < .001). Male veterans between the ages of 30 and 64 years were at the highest risk of suicide.
VHA health care system patients are at elevated risk for suicide and are appropriate for suicide reduction services, although the rate of suicide has decreased in recent years for this group. Comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention in the VHA focus not only on recent returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan but also on middle-aged and older Veterans.
American Journal of Public Health 03/2012; 102 Suppl 1:S98-104. · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Using national patient cohorts, we assessed rural-urban differences in suicide rates, risks, and methods in veterans.
We identified all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients in fiscal years 2003 to 2004 (FY03-04) alive at the start of FY04 (n = 5,447,257) and all patients in FY06-07 alive at the start of FY07 (n = 5,709,077). Mortality (FY04-05 and FY07-08) was assessed from National Death Index searches. Census criteria defined rurality. We used proportional hazards regressions to calculate rural-urban differences in risks, controlling for age, gender, psychiatric diagnoses, VA mental health services accessibility, and regional administrative network. Suicide method was categorized as firearms, poisoning, strangulation, or other.
Rural patients had higher suicide rates (38.8 vs 31.4/100,000 person-years in FY04-05; 39.6 vs 32.4/100,000 in FY07-08). Rural residence was associated with greater suicide risks (20% greater, FY04-05; 22% greater, FY07-08). Firearm deaths were more common in rural suicides (76.8% vs 61.5% in FY07-08).
Rural residence is a suicide risk factor, even after controlling for mental health accessibility. Public health and health system suicide prevention should address risks in rural areas.
American Journal of Public Health 03/2012; 102 Suppl 1:S111-7. · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Objective: To assess whether Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) programs within the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system provide services to patient subgroups that may be underrepresented in specialty mental health care, including older patients and women, and to explore whether PC-MHI served individuals with less severe mental health disorders compared to specialty mental health clinics.Method: Data were obtained from the VA National Patient Care Database for a random sample of VA patients, and primary care patients with an ICD-9-CM mental health diagnosis (N = 243,806) in 2009 were identified. Demographic and clinical characteristics between patients who received mental health treatment exclusively in a specialty mental health clinic (n = 128,248) or exclusively in a PC-MHI setting (n = 8,485) were then compared. Characteristics of patients who used both types of services were also explored.Results: Compared to patients treated in specialty mental health clinics, PC-MHI service users were more likely to be aged 65 years or older (26.4% vs 17.9%, P < .001) and female (8.6% vs 7.7%, P = .003). PC-MHI patients were more likely than specialty mental health clinic patients to be diagnosed with a depressive disorder other than major depression, an unspecified anxiety disorder, or an adjustment disorder (P < .001) and less likely to be diagnosed with more severe disorders, including bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychotic disorders, and alcohol or substance dependence (P < .001).Conclusions: Primary Care-Mental Health Integration within the VA health system reaches demographic subgroups that are traditionally less likely to use specialty mental health care. By treating patients with less severe mental health disorders, PC-MHI appears to expand upon, rather than duplicate, specialty care services.
The primary care companion to CNS disorders. 01/2012; 14(3).
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ABSTRACT: The nationally reported Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) antidepressant medication management measure assesses whether patients with new episodes of depression receive antidepressant coverage for 84 of the first 114 days of treatment. Although initial prescriptions for a 90-day supply satisfy measure requirements, they may circumvent its purpose of ensuring adequate medication management.
To assess the extent to which 90-day initial prescriptions have contributed to health system performance on the HEDIS antidepressant measure from fiscal years 2001 to 2008.
Retrospective cohort analysis of Veterans Health Administration administrative data.
Patients with a new diagnosis of depression and a new antidepressant prescription (N=383,634).
HEDIS antidepressant measures, days supply of initial antidepressant prescriptions, antidepressant refills, and clinical encounters.
Health system performance on the HEDIS acute phase antidepressant measure increased from 63.1% in 2001 to 71.0% in 2008. Receipt of an initial 90-day antidepressant supply increased from 10.5% to 29.1% during this same period; when these are excluded, HEDIS performance was 58.8% in 2001 and 59.4% in 2008. Receiving an initial 90-day prescription was associated with prior antidepressant treatment, fewer clinical encounters, and similar rates of antidepressant refills compared with patients prescribed less than 90-day supplies.
Although increases in initial 90-day supplies contribute to improved performance on the HEDIS measure, actual adherence during the acute treatment phase may not be changed by this practice. Quality measures based on pharmacy fills may need modification in the setting of large initial prescriptions.
Medical care 01/2012; 50(1):86-90. · 3.24 Impact Factor
