Prognostic indexes in a military psychiatric population.

Used biographical variables, available at the time of admission to a Navy psychiatric service, to predict the posthospital adjustment of 827 male patients (Navy and Marine Corps personnel) to military life. Predictor variables were combined, using a multiple-regression technique and a simple item-analyzed scale. The latter proved to be slightly, but not significantly, more efficient than the multiple-regression procedure as judged from cross-validity correlations. Variables which were reliable prognostic indicators included (a) occupational specialty, (b) number of children, (c) wife's attitude, (d) solitariness of work, (e) length of service, (f) diagnosis, and (g) recognition for inservice achievements. While improvement on base-rate prediction was not possible, an increase in effectiveness rate for expsychiatric patients could be effected by selecting a high prognosis score as a requirement for returning a patient to duty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)