Outcom e Mea sure
The primary outcome variable was time to readmission with any of the four characteristic schizophrenia diagnoses specified in ICD-9 (code 295.1, disorganized type; 295.2, catatonic type; 295.3, paranoid type; 295.6, residual type). Other ICD-9 295 schizophrenia codes were excluded (e.g., schizophreniform, schizoaffective)to ensure use of the strictest definition of schizophrenia for comparison purposes. Reabstraction studies have found high agreement for schizophrenia-related diagnoses between medical chart information and ICD-9-based administrative data files, rangingfrom 90% to 100% (11–13).