Summary
background Routine Outcome Monitoring (rom) is an important instrument for measuring the effectiveness of treatment and has been implemented in the Dutch mental health care system.
aim To review the effectiveness of rom with regard to diagnosis, treatment, and other outcomes.
method The literature study focused on randomised controlled trials (rct’s) of ROM performed on patients of all age groups, some being general patients, others being psychiatric patients. The main search words were ‘routine outcome monitoring’ or ‘routine outcome measurement’.
results 52 rcts on adult patients were included in the study; 45 of these trials were performed on patients with mental health problems, but not always in a psychiatric setting or as primary outcome measure. rom appears to have positive effects on diagnosis and treatment and on the communication between patient and therapist. Other results were less clear.
conclusion ROM seems to be particularly effective for the monitoring of treatments which have not been entirely successful. Further research needs to be done into the clinical and costeffectiveness of rom when used with adults and children who have mental health problems.