[Which factors predict treatment duration and outcome of psychotherapeutic hospital treatment?].
OBJECTIVE
Several studies document the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic hospital treatment in German speaking countries, although results show a considerable heterogeneity.


METHODS
Based on data from a comprehensive meta-analysis, we investigated the impact of potential study-level predictors on average treatment duration and average symptom severity at discharge using meta-regression.


RESULTS
Selected predictors explain 55 and 78 percent of between-study variance of mean treatment duration and mean symptom severity at discharge, respectively. Samples of younger patients, samples including more patients with personality disorders, samples treated in specialist centers and samples from older investigations showed longer average treatment durations. Studies in patient populations with less severe symptoms at intake and a lower proportion of personality disorders showed lower impairment at discharge. We found a statistically significant positive association between severity of symptoms at discharge and treatment duration.


CONCLUSIONS
Regarding the higher symptom load at discharge in patients with higher impairment at intake and personality disorders, treatment concepts for these groups require improvement, for example through flexible treatment durations.
Institut und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.
Sarah
S
Liebherz
Institut und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.
Alessa
A
von Wolff
Institut und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.
Levente
L
Kriston
Institut und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.
Sven
S
Rabung
D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005060:Europe; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D011613:Psychotherapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome