ArticlePsychiatric services (Washington, D.C.)2009
Dropout from outpatient mental health care in the United States.
Article in Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
105 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Social inequalities in antidepressant treatment outcomes: a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Self-Guided Mobile Mindfulness Intervention Embedded in Daily Routines for Adults With Mild to Moderate Psychological Distress: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mental health · 2026Trial
- Importance of providing pharmaceutical care for patients using psychotropic medicines in community pharmacy.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- The Positive Approach to the Psychiatric Assessment: A Randomized Trial of a Novel Interviewing Technique.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Efficacy of a single session mindfulness based intervention: A randomized clinical trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Effects of a brief pre-admission telephone reminder on no-show and dropout rates in substance use disorder treatment: a quasi-experimental study.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2022Trial
- Predictors of Treatment Engagement Among Suicidal Youth Experiencing Homelessness.Community mental health journal · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of embedding a specialist preventive care clinician in a community mental health service in increasing preventive care provision: A randomised controlled trial.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Evaluation of the Integrated Intervention for Dual Problems and Early Action Among Latino Immigrants With Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Misuse Symptoms: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2019Trial
- Treating major depression with yoga: A prospective, randomized, controlled pilot trial.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Person-centered care planning and service engagement: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Trials · 2015Trial
- Characteristics of community mental health clinics associated with treatment engagement.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2014Trial
- Telephone monitoring and support after discharge from residential PTSD treatment: a randomized controlled trial.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2013Trial
- Early Treatment Response in Children and Adolescents Receiving CBT for Trauma.Journal of pediatric psychologyTrial
- Article
- Language-dependent expression of anxiety and depression symptoms in Japanese-English bilinguals.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2026Article
- The Access, Initiation, Engagement, Retention, and Recovery (AIERR) Model: A Stage-Based Framework for Understanding Mental Health Service Utilization.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Access to Technology-Mediated Community Mental Health Care Among Low-Socioeconomic Status Consumers With Serious Mental Illness: Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- One Single Session to Sleep Them All? The Potential of Single-Session Interventions for Insomnia.Journal of sleep research · 2026Review
45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAlthough mental health treatment dropout is common, patterns and predictors of dropout are poorly understood. This study explored patterns and predictors of mental health treatment dropout in a nationally representative sample.
methodsData were from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a nationally representative household survey. Respondents who had received mental health treatment in the 12 months before the interview (N=1,664) were asked about dropout, which was defined as quitting treatment before the provider wanted them to stop. Cross-tabulation and discrete-time survival analyses were used to identify predictors.
resultsApproximately one-fifth (22%) of patients quit treatment prematurely. The highest dropout rate was from treatment received in the general medical sector (32%), and the lowest was from treatment received by psychiatrists (15%). Dropout rates were intermediate from treatment in the human services sector (20%) and among patients seen by nonpsychiatrist mental health professionals (19%). Over 70% of all dropout occurred after the first or second visits. Mental health insurance was associated with low odds of dropout (odds ratio=.6, 95% confidence interval=.4-.9). Psychiatric comorbidity was associated with a trend toward dropout. Several patient characteristics differentially predicted dropout across treatment sectors and in early and later phases of treatment.
conclusionsRoughly one-fifth of adults in mental health treatment dropped out before completing the recommended course of treatment. Dropout was most common in the general medical sector and varied by patient characteristics across treatment sectors. Interventions focused on high-risk patients and sectors that have higher dropout rates will likely be required to reduce the large proportion of patients who prematurely terminate treatment.
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