Effect of Early Assessment Team for Patients Referred to Outpatient Mental Health Care

NCT05087446 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 244508
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 588
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Loss of function and incapacity for work as a result of mental disorders are increasing, especially among young people (under 30 years of age), even though the prevalence of mental illness is fairly stable. Many of the patients referred to outpatient mental health care have complex difficulties with both mental and somatic ailments, in addition to difficulties with social conditions related to, for example, education, work, finances and social support. Functional difficulties can come as a result of mental illness. However, it can also be the opposite way; not functioning at work, study or daily life in general can cause mental symptoms and ailments. Many of these people are referred to mental health care even if the basic problem cannot be solved by psychotherapy or medication. Some of the referred patients do not have a psychiatric illness, but a reaction to a stressful and demanding situation and strains over time. Compound health challenges require individualized assessments and clarifications in order to offer the right measures. Traditionally in mental health care, the patient is placed on a waiting list to receive assessment and therapy for a specific condition. With this background, the investigators believe it is important to early identify the referred patients who will benefit from measures other than traditional assessment and treatment in mental health care. Knowledge of other aid agencies is important to find the right measures at the right time. This is important for the individual patients, who are often young people going to "get started in life". It is also important for the health services because the capacity to provide a good health service is a limited resource. From a societal perspective it is important that the health care offered contributes to reducing social security dependence. The purpose of this randomized, controlled trial is to compare the effect of traditional management of newly referred patients in outpatient clinics with assessment through an Early Assessment Team. The investigators believe that early assessment may have a positive effect on mental health, quality of life and function. The outcome goals can be summarized as less use of resources in outpatient clinics and society and better function and life for patients.

Conditions

Mental Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)

  WSAS is a self-report questionnaire with five items covering the following dimensions; influence on work, home management, social leisure activity, private leisure activities and relationships with others. The items are scored from 0 to 8, with a total score from minimum 0 to maximum 40, with lower scores indicating better adjustment.

  1 year

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• World Health Organization Well Being Index (WHO-5)

  2, 4, 8, 12, 24 months after enrollment

• EuroQoL EQ-5D-5L

  2, 4, 8, 12, 24 months after enrollment

• Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8)

  Through study completion, an average of 1 year

• Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM)

  12, 24 months after enrollment

• Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-10)

  2, 4, 8 months after enrollment

Study Arms (2)

Early assessment group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Early assessment team

Usual admission procedure group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Admission to General psychiatric outpatient clinic

Interventions

Early assessment team BEHAVIORAL

Early assessment team (EAT):The patients receive their first assessment by an early clarification team within a few weeks after the team receiving the referral. The team then decides whether further assessment and/or treatment should be given in the general outpatient clinic, and/or whether any other follow-up may be appropriate. In the first meeting the patient preferably meets two therapists, who conduct a semi-structured interview with focus on health and level of functioning. If considered appropriate, the team may offer a short-term intervention.

Early assessment group

Admission to General psychiatric outpatient clinic BEHAVIORAL

Ordinary procedures for admission to an outpatient clinic are followed in accordance with the Norwegian Directorate of Health's national prioritization guide. Referrals are assessed on the basis of severity and placed on a regular waiting list (usually a waiting period of 1-3 months). The patients receive their first personal assessment from a therapist in a general outpatient clinic who takes a position on what is to be initiated and, if necessary, offers further assessment / treatment in accordance with procedures in the outpatient clinics. This is not standardized beyond current practice.

Usual admission procedure group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• all patients referred to a general psychiatric outpatient clinic
• necessary capacity to consent
• master Norwegian language to such an extent that the patient can understand the written consent

You may not qualify if:

• patients that an admission team at the outpatient clinic consider obviously must have a TAU for some time
• patients too healthy to receive specialized mental health care
• patients in need of acute psychiatric assessment
• relevant participants who do not respond digitally or who do not confirm consent in writing within given deadlines

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St. Olavs Hospital: lead
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Nidelv DPS, Tiller

Trondheim, Norway

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Kvestad CA, Holte IR, Reitan SK, Chiappa CS, Helle GK, Skjervold AE, Rosenlund AMA, Watne O, Brattland H, Helle J, Follestad T, Hara KW, Holgersen KH. Measuring the Effect of the Early assessment Team (MEET) for patients referred to outpatient mental health care: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2024 Mar 11;25(1):179. doi: 10.1186/s13063-024-08028-6.

  PMID: 38468321 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Jon Helle, MD

  Nidelv DPS, Tiller, St.Olavs hospital

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 13, 2021
• First Posted: October 21, 2021
• Study Start: October 26, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Last Updated: February 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NO (1)