A correlation between dropout status and improvement in a psychiatric clinic.

Sixty psychiatric outpatients were independently evaluated before treatment in a mental health center and again after they had either completed five treatment visits or dropped out. Dropouts were older, more likely to be female, more severely ill, and more likely to expect medications. They improved less on scales of drug use, denial of illness, and grandiosity. Dropouts who did improve were more likely to have situational reactions. Better-educated patients had better outcomes. Patients who were satisfied with the treatment they received were the most likely to have improved.