Pattern of Follow-up among Patients Attending the Department of Psychiatry: A Prospective Study

Introduction: Adherence to drug regimen is a very important factor for improvement. Dropping out may affect the treatment outcome and also an indication of poor clinical performance. Patient who left the treatment in between can lead to a deterioration in clinical condition, resulting in the need for more intensive therapy that significantly incurs higher social and economic loss. Therefore, improving medication compliance potentially reduces morbidity and suffering of patients and their families, and the cost of rehospitalisation. Aim: To study the pattern of follow-up among patients of various psychiatric disorders and also to study the therapist factors contributing in adherence to treatment and the socio-demographic profile of patients who dropout from study. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective analytical study conducted in the Department of Psychiatry, GGSMCH Faridkot, Punjab, India. Patients were enrolled in for six month from June 2019 to November 2019 and then followed-up in next six month period from December 2019 to May 2020. A total of 500 psychiatric patients were selected by the convenient non probability sampling technique in the age group between 18-45 years who met the inclusion criteria. These patients were evaluated for illness related variables using psychiatric proforma and Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale (CPOSS) was applied. factors affecting the pattern of follow-up, relating to the treatment and its side effects, disease progression as well as therapist-related factors using a semi-structured questionnaire were recorded. The data, thus generated, was subjected to appropriate statistical analysis. Results: In the socio-demographic profile among dropout education status, occupation, and duration of illness, statistically significant difference was found among different disorders (p