title: Clinical significance of outcome in long-term follow-up of borderline patients at a day hospital.
abstract: All borderline patients admitted at a day hospital during a 6-year period were followed up with a postal questionnaire after 3-10 years. Patients who had chosen to leave the treatment within 4 months were analyzed as a separate group, and these drop-outs and the remaining patients were compared with a group of well-adjusted people who were assumed to represent the functional norm. The patients who remained in treatment were clearly posited at a level of functioning between the norm and the drop-outs, although the variation among them was quite large. Depending on the stringency and content of the criterion of clinical significance, 25-75% of the patients remaining in treatment fell within the range of the norm group versus 20-50% of the drop-outs. The patients who had benefited most since termination had differed favorably from the other patients already at admission to treatment, but not as much as had the drop-outs. The drop-outs, however, at admission also had more ambivalent or negative attitudes towards treatment.
authors.affiliation: Stockholm County Council Psychotherapy Institute, Sweden.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandell
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alfredsson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Crafoord
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lagerlöf
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arkel
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rasch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rugolska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012917:Social Adjustment
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs