Study protocol of an observational study in acute psychiatric home treatment: How does home treatment work? Identification of common factors and predictors of treatment success.

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews indicated that home treatment is an effective and cost-saving alternative to conventional acute psychiatric treatment options. Treatment success has often been defined as a reduction of hospital admissions. In the current study, symptoms and well-being are assessed regularly during treatment as an indicator for treatment success. Patients' characteristics such as diagnosis, age, substance use, and motivation for treatment were discussed as predictors for treatment success. A second focal point of the study lies in the examination of the therapeutic relationship in terms of the outcome, which has not yet been systematically investigated in home treatment.

METHODS: This is an observational study with a prospective naturalistic design. Measurements are carried out at baseline, during and at the end of treatment as well as at the 3‑month follow-up. Patients' characteristics as potential predictors for treatment success will be assessed at baseline. In addition, the perceived relationship between the patients and the team will be measured daily and weekly throughout the treatment. Treatment success is by the changes in symptoms and general well-being assessed weekly. We aim to include 82 participants assigned to home treatment. Variance analyses with repeated measurements will be conducted to evaluate treatment success.

CONCLUSION: By examining potential patient- and relationship-related predictors of treatment success, insights into relevant determining variables of treatment success in this setting are expected. The results might help to better identify who benefits the most from home treatment.