[Twenty-year follow-up investigation of the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry "Haus Vogt"].

OBJECTIVES

The present study analyses the long-term course of disease among patients who underwent inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment in a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents.

METHODS

Assessed within the study was a sample of former patients (N = 104) hospitalised in "Haus Vogt" for at least six months from 1983 to 1988. The following instruments were used: Freiburger Strukturiertes Interview (FrStI), World Health Organisation Quality of Life Interview - short version (WHOQOL-BREF), Symptom Checklist of Derogatis - German version (SCL-90-R) and questionnaires for the assessment of the treatment (FBB).

RESULTS

The quality of life (according to WHOQOL-BREF) of former patients is significantly worse on all relevant scales than that among the general population. The mental health (according to SCL-90-R) of the assessed sample is under average compared to that of the general population. In retrospect, satisfaction with treatment, as investigated by means of the FBB, differed considerably between the former "Haus Vogt" patient sample and a comparative sample from a psychiatric university hospital for children and adolescents. The biggest differences in satisfaction with treatment were found on the scale relationship with the therapist, which was much worse among the sample of former "Haus Vogt" patients than in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows positive long-term results in terms of the school and professional education attained later on. At the same time, the former patients showed persisting psychiatric symptoms and a considerably restricted quality of life.