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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2003) 183: 148-154
© 2003 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Assertive outreach teams in London: patient characteristics and outcomes

Pan-London Assertive Outreach Study, Part 3

STEFAN PRIEBE, FRCPsych, WALID FAKHOURY, PhD and JOANNA WATTS, MA

Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts' and The London School of Medicine

PAUL BEBBINGTON, FRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University College London and Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust

TOM BURNS, FRCPsych

Department of General Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, London

SONIA JOHNSON, MRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University College London and Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust

MATT MUIJEN, PhD and IAIN RYRIE, MA

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

IAN WHITE, PhD, MRC

Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge

CHRISTINE WRIGHT, FRCPsych

Department of General Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, London

Correspondence: Professor Stefan Priebe, Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Newham Centre for Mental Health, London E13 8SP, UK. E-mail: s.priebe{at}qmul.ac.uk

Declaration of interest Funding provided by the Department of Health.

See Parts1and 2, pp. 132–147, this issue.

Background Although the model of assertive outreach has been widely adopted, it is unclear who receives assertive outreach in practice and what outcomes can be expected under routine conditions.

Aims To assess patient characteristics and outcome in routine assertive outreach services in the UK.

Method Patients (n=580) were sampled from 24 assertive outreach teams in London. Outcomes – days spent in hospital and compulsory hospitalisation – were assessed over a 9-month follow-up.

Results The 6-month prevalence rate of substance misuse was 29%, and 35% of patients had been physically violent in the past 2 years. During follow-up, 39% were hospitalised and 25% compulsorily admitted. Outcome varied significantly between team types. These differences did not hold true when baseline differences in patient characteristics were controlled for.

Conclusions Routine assertive outreach serves a wide range of patients with significant rates of substance misuse and violent behaviour. Over a 9-month period an average of 25% of assertive outreach patients can be expected to be hospitalised compulsorily. Differences in outcome between team types can be explained by differences in patient characteristics.

Related articles in BJP:

Assertive outreach teams in London: models of operation: Pan-London Assertive Outreach Study, Part 1

CHRISTINE WRIGHT, TOM BURNS, PETER JAMES, JOANNE BILLINGS, SONIA JOHNSON, MATT MUIJEN, STEFAN PRIEBE, IAIN RYRIE, JOANNA WATTS, and IAN WHITE
BJP 2003 183: 132-138. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

Assertive outreach teams in London: staff experiences and perceptions: Pan-London Assertive Outreach Study, Part 2

JOANNE BILLINGS, SONIA JOHNSON, PAUL BEBBINGTON, ADELE GREAVES, STEFAN PRIEBE, MATT MUIJEN, IAIN RYRIE, JOANNA WATTS, IAN WHITE, and CHRISTINE WRIGHT
BJP 2003 183: 139-147. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

Highlights of this issue

ELIZABETH WALSH
BJP 2003 183: 89-a7. [Full Text]  

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