Prospective study of factors influencing conditional discharge from a forensic hospital: the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 recovery structured professional judgement instruments and risk

BMC Psychiatry, Jul 2013

Background We set out to examine whether structured professional judgement instruments DUNDRUM-3 programme completion (D-3) and DUNDRUM-4 recovery (D-4) scales along with measures of risk, mental state and global function could distinguish between those forensic patients detained in a secure forensic hospital (not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit to stand trial) who were subsequently discharged by a mental health review board. We also examined the interaction between these measures and risk, need for therapeutic security and eventual conditional discharge. Methods A naturalistic observational cohort study was carried out for 56 patients newly eligible for conditional discharge. Patients were rated using the D-3, D-4 and other scales including HCR-20, S-RAMM, START, SAPROF, PANSS and GAF and then observed over a period of twenty three months during which they were considered for conditional discharge by an independent Mental Health Review Board. Results The D-3 distinguished which patients were subsequently discharged by the Mental Health Review board (AUC = 0.902, p < 0.001) as did the D-4 (AUC = 0.848, p < 0.001). Item to outcome analysis showed each item of the D-3 and D-4 scales performed significantly better than random. The HCR-20 also distinguished those later discharged (AUC = 0.838, p < 0.001) as did the S-RAMM, START, SAPROF, PANSS and GAF. The D-3 and D-4 scores remained significantly lower (better) for those discharged even when corrected for the HCR-20 total score. Item to outcome analyses and logistic regression analysis showed that the strongest antecedents of discharge were the GAF and the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion scores. Conclusions Structured professional judgement instruments should improve the quality, consistency and transparency of clinical recommendations and decision making at mental health review boards. Further research is required to determine whether the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 recovery instruments predict those who are or are not recalled or re-offend after conditional discharge.

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Prospective study of factors influencing conditional discharge from a forensic hospital: the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 recovery structured professional judgement instruments and risk

Mary Davoren 0 1 Zareena Abidin 1 Leena Naughton 1 Olivia Gibbons 1 Andrea Nulty 1 Brenda Wright 1 Harry G Kennedy 0 1 0 Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College , Dublin , Ireland 1 National Forensic Mental Health Service, Central Mental Hospital , Dundrum, Dublin 14 , Ireland Background: We set out to examine whether structured professional judgement instruments DUNDRUM-3 programme completion (D-3) and DUNDRUM-4 recovery (D-4) scales along with measures of risk, mental state and global function could distinguish between those forensic patients detained in a secure forensic hospital (not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit to stand trial) who were subsequently discharged by a mental health review board. We also examined the interaction between these measures and risk, need for therapeutic security and eventual conditional discharge. Methods: A naturalistic observational cohort study was carried out for 56 patients newly eligible for conditional discharge. Patients were rated using the D-3, D-4 and other scales including HCR-20, S-RAMM, START, SAPROF, PANSS and GAF and then observed over a period of twenty three months during which they were considered for conditional discharge by an independent Mental Health Review Board. Results: The D-3 distinguished which patients were subsequently discharged by the Mental Health Review board (AUC = 0.902, p < 0.001) as did the D-4 (AUC = 0.848, p < 0.001). Item to outcome analysis showed each item of the D-3 and D-4 scales performed significantly better than random. The HCR-20 also distinguished those later discharged (AUC = 0.838, p < 0.001) as did the S-RAMM, START, SAPROF, PANSS and GAF. The D-3 and D-4 scores remained significantly lower (better) for those discharged even when corrected for the HCR-20 total score. Item to outcome analyses and logistic regression analysis showed that the strongest antecedents of discharge were the GAF and the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion scores. Conclusions: Structured professional judgement instruments should improve the quality, consistency and transparency of clinical recommendations and decision making at mental health review boards. Further research is required to determine whether the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 recovery instruments predict those who are or are not recalled or re-offend after conditional discharge. - Background The Butler Report [1] described conditional discharge as the most valuable feature of the system of restriction orders and it has been shown that patients who have been conditionally discharged from forensic hospitals have lower rates of recidivism than those released without conditions [2]. Coid et al. showed that longer stay and restriction on discharge are protective factors against reoffending in patients discharged from medium secure forensic psychiatry services [3]. However despite the benefits of conditional discharge, the decision to recommend a patient for conditional discharge is one of the most difficult taken by a forensic psychiatrist. Mental health tribunals and review boards make decisions that require the balancing of rights and risks according to law. Patients should not be detained at a level of therapeutic security higher than that which is deemed necessary, for their own safety and the safety of others [4] however this must be balanced with public safety and victim rights issues. Risk assessment is a key part of the process when making decisions regarding a patients readiness for discharge to the community. Dolan and Khawja [5] showed that the HCR-20 was a predictor of readmission and self reported violence in groups of discharged male medium secure patients. It has also been shown that the HCR-20 is a good predictor of both violent and non-violent offending in patients released from forensic psychiatric hospitals [6]. Doyle at al have also shown that dynamic (current and risk) items on the HCR-20 significantly improved the accuracy of prediction of violence after discharge from forensic units [7]. It has been shown that factors such as a higher score on PCL-R and a younger age at the time of first criminal offence were significantly related to release recommendations in a group of NGRI patients in the USA [8]. However evidence presented to Criminal Law (Mental Health) Review boards, when recommending a patient for a move to less secure places, consists of more than risk assessment. In practice evidence given by clinicians also includes or takes account of factors such as rapport, insight, therapeutic alliance and use of leave from the hospital. Risk assessment in forensic psychiatry has evolved in recent years from the use of unstructured clinical judgement to the use of structured professional judgement instruments. These instruments add to the transparency and accountability of the process of risk assessment, uniting the tasks of prediction, assessment, clinical management and communication [9]. The aim of the DUNDRUM toolkit is to provide the same transp (...truncated)


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Mary Davoren, Zareena Abidin, Leena Naughton, Olivia Gibbons, Andrea Nulty, Brenda Wright, Harry G Kennedy. Prospective study of factors influencing conditional discharge from a forensic hospital: the DUNDRUM-3 programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 recovery structured professional judgement instruments and risk, BMC Psychiatry, 2013, pp. 185, 13, DOI: 10.1186/1471-244X-13-185