Is there a prospective association between psychological distress as measured by the CORE-OM and treatment attendance and treatment duration? A follow-up study at a Norwegian Community Mental Health Centre.

Background: Feasible and reliable methods for identifying factors associated with treatment duration and treatment attendance in mental health services are needed. This study examined to what degree the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) at the start of treatment is associated with treatment attendance and treatment duration.

Methods: Outpatients ( = 124) at a community mental health centre in Norway completed the 34-item CORE-OM questionnaire addressing the domains of subjective well-being, problems and symptoms, functioning and risk at the start of treatment. The CORE-OM subscales and the 'all' items total scale were used as predictor variables in regression models, with treatment duration, number of consultations attended, treatment attendance (number of therapy sessions attended divided by number of sessions offered) and termination of treatment (planned versus unplanned) as outcome variables.

Results: Higher CORE-OM subscale scores and the 'all' scale were associated with longer treatment duration. No association was found between CORE-OM scales and number of therapy sessions, treatment attendance (sessions attended/offered) or whether the patients unexpectedly ended treatment.

Conclusion: Higher patient-reported psychological distress as measured by the CORE-OM at the start of treatment was prospectively associated with treatment duration but not with treatment attendance or drop-out of treatment. The findings imply that patients with higher initial psychological distress need longer treatment but that treatment attendance may be related to factors other than the severity of distress.