Exploring continuity of care in patients with alcohol use disorders using time-variant measures.

BACKGROUND/AIMS We used time-variant measures of continuity of care to study fluctuations in long-term treatment use by patients with alcohol-related disorders. METHODS Data on service use were extracted from the Psychiatric Case Register for the Rotterdam Region, The Netherlands. Continuity measures were calculated for each day over a 2-year observation period. Repeated measures analysis was used to identify factors that influence continuity of care over time. RESULTS Continuity of care was higher for patients with more severe disorders. Though quantity of care was high for patients with long problem history during the first year of treatment, it decreased strongly in the second year. The intervals between treatment contacts were shorter for women, especially young ones, than for men. CONCLUSION Time-variant measures showed differences in continuity of care that would not have been revealed if more aggregated measures of service use had been used.