The use of termination status and treatment duration patterns as an indicator of clinical improvement.

The importance of outcome research for evaluating the effectiveness of mental health services was documented. It was concluded that the conditions which contribute to the current infrequent performance of outcome research in mental health centers makes widespread outcome research unlikely in the future. A simple procedure for estimating clinical improvement based on information routinely collected at agencies--treatment duration and termination status--was described. Early dropouts, late dropouts, and appropriate terminators were found to describe a continuum of clinical improvement. Research support for the recommended procedure and ways to implement it were described.