Effectiveness of Follow-up Care Programs for Readmission among Psychiatric Patients in the Community, Sangkha District, Surin Province: A Quasi-experimental Research

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric patients at Sangkha Hospital have shown an increasing trend of readmission, leading to service improvement through community-based follow-up care which is a proactive service approach. Objective: To study the effectiveness of follow-up care programs for readmission among psychiatric patients in the community, Sangkha district, Surin province. Method: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 30 psychiatric patients with a history of readmissions, divided into experimental and control groups of 15 patients each. The control group received routine outpatient care at the psychiatric clinic. The experimental group received an 8-week follow-up program consisting of patient classification using The 3-Good 4-Color patient classification system, follow-up of missed appointments via LINE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT, home visits for symptom assessment, and medication adherence monitoring by relatives or volunteers. Outcomes were evaluated using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) by psychiatric-trained nurses at baseline and after program completion. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation for general information, and paired t-test for within-group comparison and independent t-test for between-group comparison, with statistical significance at .05. Result: After follow-up care, the experimental group showed lower readmission rates (13.33%) compared to the control group (26.67%). The experimental group demonstrated significantly reduced psychiatric symptoms (p < .001) and significantly improved medication adherence (p < .001). Conclusion: The follow-up care programs effectively controlling psychotic symptoms, improved medication adherence and tended to reduce readmission.