Predictors of Treatment Outcome and Length of Stay in a Partial Hospital Program for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

ABSTRACTPartial hospital programs (PHPs) represent an important part of the continuum of care for youth with severe and/or refractory OCD, yet little is known about clinical or utilization outcomes in this setting. The current study aimed to characterize symptom improvement and length of stay (LOS) among 185 youth with OCD treated in a PHP setting and to identify demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics that predict these outcomes. Results demonstrate a 77.3% treatment response rate and a median LOS of 52 days. Holding other predictors constant, less symptom improvement was observed for youth with lower symptom severity at admission, in a racial or ethnic minoritized group, without comorbid anxiety, and receiving more treatment hours per day. Shorter LOS was observed among youth with public (vs. commercial) insurance, receiving more hours of treatment per day, and not taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI). Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed, including a critical need to understand and improve outcomes for minoritized youth. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).