DOI: 10.20935/mhealthwellb8356 ISSN: 2997-9196

Patient-reported behavioral health outcomes in a hospital-based violence intervention program

Damaris Ortiz, Akrem Ahmed, Samantha Padgett, Natalia Chaudhry, Lauren A. Magee, Blakney Q. Brooks, Sydney Doyle, Clark J. Simons, Malaz Boustani, Ben Zarzaur
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Introduction: Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) provide resources to violently injured patients in the United States but do not have robust program evaluation plans that incorporate behavioral health and socioemotional outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate a well-established HVIP with patient-reported outcome measures, including socioemotional and behavioral health outcomes.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected routine program data from HVIP participants enrolled from 1 June 2022 to 12 December 2024. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms and measures of self-efficacy and satisfaction with social roles and activities were compared at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months using a mixed-effect model, permutation testing, and the Reliable Change Index.

Results: Fifty-seven participants were enrolled in the HVIP during the study period; three were excluded. Twenty participants (37%) completed the assessments at all time points. Forty-nine (90.7%) participants screened positive for either PTSD or depression symptoms, and 26 (53%) engaged in therapy. There were no differences over time in PTSD (β = −4.28, SE = 2.55, p = 0.093), depression (β = −0.67, SE = 1.02, p = 0.512), or other measure scores (social roles (β = 1.04, SE = 1.25, p = 0.406)), (self-efficacy (β = 1.39, SE = 1.18, p = 0.240)). There was significant score variance within and between participants.

Conclusions: HVIPs can screen for PTSD and depression symptoms and connect patients to needed therapy. This longitudinal assessment was limited by participant attrition. Further study is needed to determine within- and between-participant variability, which HVIP interventions should remain standard, and which interventions should be individualized.

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