The longitudinal dispositions of people diagnosed with adjustment or severe stress disorders

TL;DR

The study tracks the long-term outcomes of people diagnosed with adjustment or stress disorders, finding that many never receive another diagnosis and have high initial service use.

Contribution

The study provides new longitudinal insights into the prognosis and service use patterns of adjustment and stress-related disorder patients.

Findings

61% of patients never received another diagnosis over 8 years and had high emergency service use.

Those diagnosed with new disorders after 9 months had prolonged but low-intensity service engagement.

Early diagnosis conversion was linked to higher inpatient use, while later conversion was associated with higher mortality.

Abstract

Adjustment and stress-related disorders are prevalent among psychiatric service users. Despite their prevalence, little is known about their prognosis. To reduce that gap, the present article documents the service use and diagnostic outcomes of people with adjustment or stress-related disorders presenting at Singapore’s largest psychiatric emergency department.

Administrative data from 2014 to 2021 was retrieved to follow a group of 683 service users whose first-ever psychiatric presentation in 2014 warranted a diagnosis of adjustment or stress-related disorder. People were grouped a priori depending on whether different diagnoses were recorded within 7 days, 9 months, after 9 months or not at all. Survival curves characterized conversion to other diagnoses and engagement with healthcare services. Service use outcomes include the number of hospitalizations, outpatient appointments, emergency department visits, and prescriptions.

Sixty-one percent (n = 417) never received another diagnosis over the 8-year period. This group used emergency services most and received the most pharmacotherapy shortly after their first visit. Of those who received another diagnosis, depression, personality disorders, and psychotic disorders were the most common. Those who received another diagnosis within 7 days (n = 70, 10%) received it on their first day of hospitalization (IQR 1–1), making the most use of inpatient services. The group who received another diagnosis within 9 months (n = 105, 15%) did so after 42 days (IQR 26–84) and had the highest relative number of deaths. Those who received another diagnosis after 9 months (n = 91, 13%) did so after 1,134 days (IQR 613–1,823) and had the longest period of engagement but made the least use of any psychiatric service, potentially suggesting a group whose early index diagnosis heralded vulnerability to future disorders.

A large group of service users with acute stress or adjustment disorders will likely never be given another psychiatric diagnosis and appear to disengage following an initial period of high-intensity service use. The group that received a different diagnosis after the 9-month mark had prolonged contact with services but low intensity of service use and may represent a target for preventative intervention to help them improve their stress-managing skills and avoid developing other disorders.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-024-05904-y.

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