ArticleBJPsych open2018
Desperately seeking outcomes: quantifying the effectiveness of community mental healthcare using Health of the Nation Outcome Scales.
Article in BJPsych open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Risk of bias in routine mental health outcome data: the case of Health of the Nation Outcome Scales.BMJ mental health · 2025Article
- Clinical Outcome in Persons with Severe Mental Disorders Attending a Mental Health Day Center during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Infants field trial: concurrent validity.BJPsych open · 2021Article
- The interrater reliability of a routine outcome measure for infants and pre-schoolers aged under 48 months: Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Infants.BJPsych open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCommunity mental health services in the UK have struggled to measure the clinical effectiveness of their services.AimsTo measure clinical outcomes for different diagnostic clusters.
methodClinicians measure the clinical status of patients by the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS), and HoNOS scores should be recorded annually after treatment. Clinical outcomes were measured by changes in HoNOS for diagnostic clusters.
resultsIn two time periods (2014 and 2016), the health of patients with mild to moderate common mental disorders deteriorated after intervention. Patients with severe common mental disorders and psychoses improved in their clinical status.
conclusionsBritish community mental health teams may be effective in improving the clinical status of people with severe mental illness, but may have a negative effect on people with mild to moderate illnesses. These teams need to focus on the severely mentally ill and build on this demonstrable effectiveness.Declaration of interestNone.
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