A comparison of gains after treatment at a psychiatric outpatient clinic in patients with cluster A + B, or cluster C personality disorders, and non-psychotic axis I disorders.
Few studies exist on the outcome of patients with personality disorders (PDs) treated at ordinary outpatient clinics. This study examines the gains of such patients 2 years after treatment start at an outpatient clinic. Three patient groups were sampled: cluster A + B PDs, cluster C PDs and axis I disorders. Fifty-eight patients (53%) were amenable to follow-up, and they did not show less psychopathology than the non-compliers. All patients had structured interviews and filled in questionnaires. Patients in the PDs cluster A + B group showed considerable gains, while that was not found for the PDs cluster C and Axis I disorder groups. Since almost all patients received long-term psychotherapy sometimes combined with antidepressant drugs, the finding that such a treatment mainly shows gains in more severely disturbed PDs patients should be replicated in larger samples at ordinary psychiatric outpatient clinics.
Narud
Kjersti
K
Department of Psychiatry, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. kjer-na@online.no
Mykletun
Arnstein
A
Dahl
Alv A
AA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014434:Type A Personality