Comparison of Self-report and Clinician-rated Measures of Psychiatric Symptoms and Functioning in Predicting 1-year Hospital Readmission

This study compared the self-report Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32) and clinician-rated Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) in their ability to predict a measure of psychiatric outcome, 1-year psychiatric hospital readmission. BASIS-32 and GAF were completed at admission for 1034 patients in an inpatient psychiatric facility. Multiple informants analysis was used to determine the difference between the two in predicting readmission within 1 year. We also examined sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value positive of the two measures, and whether self-report added information above clinician rating in predicting outcome. While the odds of 1-year readmission decreased with increasing BASIS-32 score, there was no association between change in GAF score and 1-year readmission. Although neither measure used alone demonstrated high predictive value, using both scores improved predictive ability over using clinician rating alone. In this setting, self-report was better than clinician rating in predicting psychiatric outcome. Differences between the two in relation to other outcomes need to be examined.