title: Time course of treatment dropout in cognitive-behavioral therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: A substantial minority of people drop out of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There has been considerable research investigating who drops out of PTSD treatment; however, the question of when dropout occurs has received far less attention. The purpose of the current study was to examine when individuals drop out of CBT for PTSD. Women participants (N = 321) were randomized to 1 of several PTSD treatment conditions. The conditions included prolonged exposure (PE), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), CPT-cognitive only (CPT-C), and written accounts (WA). Survival analysis was used to examine temporal pattern of treatment dropout. Thirty-nine percent of participants dropped out of treatment, and those who dropped out tended to do so by midtreatment. Moreover, the pattern of treatment dropout was consistent across CBT conditions. Additional research is needed to examine if treatment dropout patterns are consistent across treatment modalities and settings.
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Cassidy A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gutner
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Aaron S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Denise M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Duke University.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Resick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors