Diagnostic Change in a Longitudinal Study of Psychiatric Patients

Abstract

This paper describes an investigation into the reasons for change in diagnosis in a group of 200 mental hospital patients who were admitted to hospital four times in two years. The cohort consists of the 44,047 patients in England and Wales who had their first admission in 1954, and 46,238 similarly admitted in 1955. The first two years of their progress has already been described in detail (Brooke, E. M., 1963), and further reports are in progress.