Follow-up of agoraphobic patients treated with exposure in vivo or applied relaxation.
The present study describes the results of a 7-month and a 15-month follow-up of 32 agoraphobic patients treated with exposure in vivo or applied relaxation. During the follow-up period, all patients were given self-exposure instructions. Assessments were made in three response systems--subjective-cognitive, behavioural, and physiological--at the follow-up points. The study showed overall maintenance of treatment results in all three response systems for exposure-treated patients. For applied relaxation/self-exposure, there was a relapse on delta heart-rate at 7 months for physiologically reactive patients, but the improvement was regained at the 15 month follow-up. Furthermore, a large proportion of the total improvement occurred during the follow-up period: 36% and 22% for exposure and applied relaxation/self-exposure respectively. The proportion of patients reaching a clinically significant improvement was 50% at the end of treatment and 66% at the 15 month follow-up.
D000328:Adult; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D001007:Anxiety; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012064:Relaxation Therapy