The influence of the psychiatric day care on the continuation of treatments for the patients with bipolar disorder: Single-center retrospective cohort study in Japan

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the influence of the psychiatric day care on the continuation of treatments for the patients with bipolar disorder in Japan. Two-hundred twenty-one subjects with bipolar affective disorder were divided into two groups: those who utilized the day care in addition to outpatient visit (DC group) and those who utilized outpatient visit only (Non DC group). The propensity score matching selected 42 subjects (21 in each group) for the final analysis. Time until discontinuation of treatment was estimated by the Kaplan--Meier method. The results indicate that the DC group exhibited significantly longer duration of treatment than the Non DC group. Multiple factors could contribute to the continuation of treatment and adherence, including the structure of the day care, which allows the patients to take part in the decision making, various programs, and resources available in the day care, and the opportunity for the patients to meet with others who share similar experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Continuation of treatment
• psychiatric day care
• bipolar disorder
• relapse prevention
• psychiatric rehabilitation
• propensity score matching

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Tomoko Kobayashi for reviewing the article and giving us advice. We also appreciate the assistance and corporation of the staff at Shioiri Mental Clinic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.