Outpatient Psychotherapy Improves Symptoms and Reduces Health Care Costs in Regularly and Prematurely Terminated Therapies

Background: In view of a shortage of health care costs, monetary aspects of psychotherapy become increasingly relevant. The present study examined the pre-post reduction of impairment and direct health care costs depending on therapy termination (regularly terminated, dropout with an unproblematic reason, and dropout with a quality-relevant reason) and the association of symptom and cost reduction.

Methods: In a naturalistic longitudinal study, we examined a disorder heterogeneous sample of N = 584 outpatients who were either treated with cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, or psychoanalytic therapy. Depression, anxiety, stress, and somatization were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). Annual amounts of inpatient costs, outpatient costs, medication costs, days of hospitalization, work disability days, utilization of psychotherapy, and utilization of pharmacotherapy 1 year before therapy and 1 year after therapy were provided by health care insurances. Symptom and cost reduction were analyzed using t-tests. Associations between symptom and cost reduction were examined using partial correlations and hierarchical linear models.

Results: Patients who terminated therapy regularly showed the largest symptom reduction (d = 0.981–1.22). Patients who dropped out due to an unproblematic reason and patients who terminated early due to a quality-relevant reason showed significant but small effects of symptom reductions (e.g., depression: d = 0.429 vs. d = 0.366). For patients with a regular end and those dropping out due to a quality-relevant reason, we observed a significant reduction of work disability (diff in % of pre-test value = 56.3 vs. 42.9%) and hospitalization days (52.8 vs. 35.0%). Annual inpatient costs decreased in the group with a regular therapy end (31.5%). Furthermore, reduction of symptoms on the one side and reduction of work disability days and psychotherapy utilization on the other side were significant correlated (r = 0.091–0.135).

Conclusion: Health care costs and symptoms were reduced in each of the three groups. The average symptom and cost reduction of patients with a quality-relevant dropout suggested that not each dropout might be seen as therapy failure.

Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults

BACKGROUND

Somatoform disorders are characterised by chronic, medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). Although different medications are part of treatment routines for people with somatoform disorders in clinics and private practices, there exists no systematic review or meta-analysis on the efficacy and tolerability of these medications. We aimed to synthesise to improve optimal treatment decisions.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders (specifically somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, and pain disorder) in adults.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR) (to 17 January 2014). This register includes relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from The Cochrane Library (all years), MEDLINE (1950 to date), EMBASE (1974 to date), and PsycINFO (1967 to date). To identify ongoing trials, we searched ClinicalTrials.gov, Current Controlled Trials metaRegister, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry. For grey literature, we searched ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Database, OpenGrey, and BIOSIS Previews. We handsearched conference proceedings and reference lists of potentially relevant papers and systematic reviews and contacted experts in the field.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We selected RCTs or cluster RCTs of pharmacological interventions versus placebo, treatment as usual, another medication, or a combination of different medications for somatoform disorders in adults. We included people fulfilling standardised diagnostic criteria for somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, or somatoform pain disorder.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

One review author and one research assistant independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Primary outcomes included the severity of MUPS on a continuous measure, and acceptability of treatment.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 26 RCTs (33 reports), with 2159 participants, in the review. They examined the efficacy of different types of antidepressants, the combination of an antidepressant and an antipsychotic, antipsychotics alone, or natural products (NPs). The duration of the studies ranged between two and 12 weeks.One meta-analysis of placebo-controlled studies showed no clear evidence of a significant difference between tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and placebo for the outcome severity of MUPS (SMD -0.13; 95% CI -0.39 to 0.13; 2 studies, 239 participants; I(2) = 2%; low-quality evidence). For new-generation antidepressants (NGAs), there was very low-quality evidence showing they were effective in reducing the severity of MUPS (SMD -0.91; 95% CI -1.36 to -0.46; 3 studies, 243 participants; I(2) = 63%). For NPs there was low-quality evidence that they were effective in reducing the severity of MUPS (SMD -0.74; 95% CI -0.97 to -0.51; 2 studies, 322 participants; I(2) = 0%).One meta-analysis showed no clear evidence of a difference between TCAs and NGAs for severity of MUPS (SMD -0.16; 95% CI -0.55 to 0.23; 3 studies, 177 participants; I(2) = 42%; low-quality evidence). There was also no difference between NGAs and other NGAs for severity of MUPS (SMD -0.16; 95% CI -0.45 to 0.14; 4 studies, 182 participants; I(2) = 0%).Finally, one meta-analysis comparing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) with a combination of SSRIs and antipsychotics showed low-quality evidence in favour of combined treatment for severity of MUPS (SMD 0.77; 95% CI 0.32 to 1.22; 2 studies, 107 participants; I(2) = 23%).Differences regarding the acceptability of the treatment (rate of all-cause drop-outs) were neither found between NGAs and placebo (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.61; 2 studies, 163 participants; I(2) = 0%; low-quality evidence) or NPs and placebo (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.78; 3 studies, 506 participants; I(2) = 0%; low-quality evidence); nor between TCAs and other medication (RR 1.48, 95% CI 0.59 to 3.72; 8 studies, 556 participants; I(2) =14%; low-quality evidence); nor between antidepressants and the combination of an antidepressant and an antipsychotic (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.25 to 2.52; 2 studies, 118 participants; I(2) = 0%; low-quality evidence). Percental attrition rates due to adverse effects were high in all antidepressant treatments (0% to 32%), but low for NPs (0% to 1.7%).The risk of bias was high in many domains across studies. Seventeen trials (65.4%) gave no information about random sequence generation and only two (7.7%) provided information about allocation concealment. Eighteen studies (69.2%) revealed a high or unclear risk in blinding participants and study personnel; 23 studies had high risk of bias relating to blinding assessors. For the comparison NGA versus placebo, there was relatively high imprecision and heterogeneity due to one outlier study. Although we identified 26 studies, each comparison only contained a few studies and small numbers of participants so the results were imprecise.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The current review found very low-quality evidence for NGAs and low-quality evidence for NPs being effective in treating somatoform symptoms in adults when compared with placebo. There was some evidence that different classes of antidepressants did not differ in efficacy; however, this was limited and of low to very low quality. These results had serious shortcomings such as the high risk of bias, strong heterogeneity in the data, and small sample sizes. Furthermore, the significant effects of antidepressant treatment have to be balanced against the relatively high rates of adverse effects. Adverse effects produced by medication can have amplifying effects on symptom perceptions, particularly in people focusing on somatic symptoms without medical causes. We can only draw conclusions about short-term efficacy of the pharmacological interventions because no trial included follow-up assessments. For each of the comparisons where there were available data on acceptability rates (NGAs versus placebo, NPs versus placebo, TCAs versus other medication, and antidepressants versus a combination of an antidepressant and an antipsychotic), no clear differences between the intervention and comparator were found.Future high-quality research should be carried out to determine the effectiveness of medications other than antidepressants, to compare antidepressants more thoroughly, and to follow-up participants over longer periods (the longest follow up was just 12 weeks). Another idea for future research would be to include other outcomes such as functional impairment or dysfunctional behaviours and cognitions as well as the classical outcomes such as symptom severity, depression, or anxiety.

[Non-completion of insurance-funded outpatient psychotherapy: frequency, risk factors, outcome]

OBJECTIVE

Because premature discontinuation of psychotherapy limits the effectiveness of the interventions, in a naturalistic design we examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcome of premature discontinuation.

METHODS

The sample included N = 584 patients with various mental disorders. Risk factors were identified using regression analysis. As outcome Patient Health Questionnaire scales were considered. We compared pre and post averages as well as post averages of premature discontinuation versus regular termination.

RESULTS

Risk factors were: female and/or unemployed patient, low patient and/or therapist ratings regarding therapy success, and extraordinarily high therapist ratings of the therapeutic alliance. Despite premature discontinuation we found significant reductions of depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and stress (ES = 0.30, …, 0.44). Compared to regular termination though, patients with premature discontinuation were more impaired at last measurement (ES = 0.17, …, 0.37).

CONCLUSION

Not each premature discontinuation is a psychotherapeutic failure. Warning signals for looming premature discontinuation are low ratings of therapy success while psychotherapeutic treatment.

[Extensions of the outpatient psychotherapy: a study about patient, therapist, treatment, and therapy course characteristics]

Due to the treatment costs, extensions of the standard therapy duration are a matter of critical examination. This study investigates which factors characterize patients with treatment extensions in the German health system and how effective these extensions are for a reduction of the patients' symptoms. We analysed a disorder heterogeneous sample of 810 patients. We found that therapy extensions are more common among with more severe mental disorders, when the therapeutic relationship is positive, and little therapy success has been achieved during the standard duration. Overall, the findings suggest that outpatient psychotherapy is mainly extended for patients with a low symptom reduction after the standard therapy duration and that therapy extension allows a symptom reduction that could not have been achieved otherwise.

Praxisübergreifende Dokumentation der Ergebnisqualität ambulanter Psychotherapie in Bayern

Zusammenfassung. In der Pilotstudie QS-PSY-BAY wurde durch 217 Therapeuten eine Methode zur einrichtungs- und fachrichtungsübergreifenden Qualitätssicherung in der ambulanten psychotherapeutischen Versorgung an 1.696 Patienten erfolgreich erprobt. Es kam eine einheitliche elektronische Dokumentation zur Erfassung und Rückmeldung von Behandlungsparametern und des Behandlungserfolges zum Einsatz. Der individuelle Therapieverlauf wurde im Kontext anonymisierter Vergleichsgruppen mit gleicher Hauptdiagnose grafisch dargestellt. Der Studiendatensatz lässt sich zur Beantwortung von Fragen der Versorgungsforschung nutzen. Die Patienten weisen zu Therapiebeginn im Durchschnitt eine deutliche Beeinträchtigung ihres gesundheitlichen Befindens auf. Jeder zweite Patient wird aufgrund einer depressiven Störung behandelt. Die Prä-Post-Effektgröße der abgeschlossenen Therapien erreicht einen Wert von 1,57 und ist in der Ein-Jahres-Katamnese stabil. Bei Berücksichtigung des Drop-Outs nach Intent-To-Treat-Methodik beträgt die konservativ korrigierte Effektgröße 0,97. Damit haben die im Projekt evaluierten Behandlungen eine ausgezeichnete Ergebnisqualität, was die Bedeutung der ambulanten Psychotherapie für die Gesundheitsversorgung in Zeiten einer allgemeinen Zunahme psychischer Erkrankungen unterstreicht.

Ergebnisqualität psychosomatischer Rehabilitation: Zielerreichungsskalierung auf der Basis einer strukturierten Therapiezielliste

Within the scope of a multicenter study regarding the outcome quality of inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation a structured catalogue of therapy goals (SZK, strukturierter Therapiezielkatalog) was developed. The catalogue contains 89 predetermined therapy goals as well as the option to formulate further goals in own words. The SZK is available both as a patient and as a therapist version. At the beginning of treatment up to five primary objectives are chosen from the list. At the end of treatment and at the 1-year follow-up the level of achievement of objectives is assessed. Moreover the SZK contains the option to mark goals as not relevant any more and to add goals which came up during the treatment and to evaluate them regarding the level of achievement. The study on hand asks for empirical identification of the target structure. Furthermore, reliability and validity of the calculated measures of goal attainment are analysed. As the most important finding the SZK turns out to be a practical and economical assessment instrument for goal-oriented evaluation.

[Individualized outcome measurement -- a comparison between prospective and retrospective problem marking in psychosomatic rehabilitation]

This article reports on a questionnaire concerning individual problems in psychosomatic rehabilitation. A sample of 858 patients answered the questions at the beginning and on a one year catamnestic measurement. First, the frequency of occurrence of several symptoms was asked. Second, the rehabilitants were asked to indicate for each symptom if it was an important problem before treatment. This procedure of identifying problems was done at the beginning (prospective marking) and also at the one year follow up (retrospective marking). The questionnaire allows to compute eight subscales and one global scale regarding all items (classical approach). Frequency of occurrence decreased with an average effect size (ES) of 0.56 on the global scale. In the next step, measurement was individualized by regarding only items which were marked as relevant problem. By prospective marking, effect size was 1.32. By retrospective marking, no growth of effect size in comparison to the classical approach was found (ES = 0.56). The results indicate that the prospective approach of identifying problems is the better way of individualizing measurements. Moreover, the impact of individual problem definition on outcome was demonstrated.