The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale as an Acute Inpatient Outcome Measurement Tool: A Pilot Study
Roy V. Varner, Y. Richard Chen, Alan C. Swann, and Frederick G. Moeller
J Clin Psychiatry 2000;61(6):418-421
© Copyright 2015 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
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Background: Recent guidelines for length of stay
at psychiatric hospitals may have an unacceptable impact on
patient outcome at discharge. A valid measurement tool is needed
to evaluate significant patient change during brief
hospitalization, typically 7 days, and to provide early
prediction of unfavorable short-term outcome. This study examines
the utility of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) as such
a tool.
Method: During a 2-month testing period, the
BPRS was administered to 87 successive adults admitted to an
acute general psychiatric inpatient unit at admission, 2 days, 7
days, and weekly thereafter until discharge. Total BPRS scores
and 4 subscores were used in the data analysis, which included
paired t tests and correlation analyses.
Results: Mean BPRS total scores demonstrate
significant (p < .001) patient improvement at days 2, 7, and
14 of the hospital stay. Changes in subscores and their
relationship to eventual outcome vary across diagnostic groups.
Conclusion: The BPRS appears to be a useful
inpatient outcome measure since it is capable of demonstrating
significant change during brief stays of 1 week or less. Subscale
scores may provide more specific prediction of change and may
help clarify outcome in individual patients who show
insignificant change by total score.