RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Medical-Legal Partnership Effects on Mental Health, Health Care Use, and Quality of Life in Primary Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 414
OP 424
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2022.220349R1
VO 36
IS 3
A1 Liaw, Winston
A1 Northrup, Thomas F.
A1 Stotts, Angela L.
A1 Bakos-Block, Christine
A1 Suchting, Robert
A1 Chen, Alvin
A1 Hernandez, Abigail
A1 Finzetto, Lisandra
A1 Green, Charles
A1 Murphy, Thomas
YR 2023
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/36/3/414.abstract
AB Purpose: To determine whether an immediate referral to a medical-legal partnership (MLP), compared with a 6-month waitlist control, improved mental health, health care use, and quality of life.Methods: This trial randomly assigned individuals to an immediate referral or a wait-list control. The MLP involved a collaboration between the primary care clinic and a legal services organization. The primary outcome was stress (6 months) as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Secondary measures included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7); Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS); and emergency department (ED), urgent care, and hospital visits. Assessments were at baseline and 3-, 6-, and 9-month follow-ups. Bayesian statistical inference and a 75% posterior probability threshold were used to identify noteworthy differences.Results: Immediate referral was associated with lower PSS scores and higher GAD-7 scores. PROMIS scores were higher for the immediate referral group with respect to several subdomains. At 6 months, the immediate referral group demonstrated 21% fewer ED visits and 75.6% more hospital visits.Conclusion: Immediate referral to the MLP was associated with lower stress and a lower rate of ED visits but higher anxiety and a higher rate of hospital visits.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03805126.