Predictors and moderators of aftercare appointment-keeping following brief motivational interviewing among patients with psychiatric disorders or dual diagnosis

Objective: Non-adherence to psychiatric and substance abuse treatment recommendations, especially with regard to aftercare outpatient appointment-keeping following hospitalizations, exacts a high cost on mental health spending and prevents patients from receiving therapeutic doses of treatment. Our primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between potential predictors and moderators of aftercare appointment-keeping among a group of adult patients immediately following hospitalization for severe psychiatric disorders or dual diagnosis. Methods: Candidate predictors and moderator variables included demographics, psychiatric status, psychiatric symptom severity, and inpatient group adherence, while aftercare appointment-keeping was defined as attendance at the first aftercare appointment. Participants were 121 adult inpatients with a psychiatric disorder or dual diagnosis originally enrolled in an earlier randomized controlled trial comparing standard treatment with standard treatment plus brief motivational interviewing for increasing adherence. Results: Results indicated that, across treatment conditions, those who were female, did not have dual diagnosis, were older (older than 33 years), and were less educated (high school) attended their first aftercare appointment at significantly higher rates than their counterparts. A treatment-by-gender interaction was noted, where only men were significantly more likely to keep their first aftercare appointment if they received standard treatment plus brief motivational interviewing, compared to standard treatment alone (OR = 9.58, p < .001). Conclusions: Findings suggest that gender, dual diagnosis status, age and education may be an important predictors of aftercare treatment adherence and that gender may be a moderator of motivational interviewing among individuals with psychiatric disorders or dual diagnosis.