Defining response and remission in psychotherapy research: A comparison of the RCI and the method of percent improvement

There is no consensus as to how to define response and remission for mental disorder treatments. The Reliable Change Index (RCI) is most commonly used in psychotherapy research, whereas psychopharmacologists prefer to calculate percentage of improvement (PI). We compared both methods using the Beck Depression Inventory in 395 depressive outpatients. The overall pre-post effect size was d=1.18. The PI-50 (≥ 50% improvement from baseline) resulted in outcome estimates higher than the RCI: 66.3% vs. 59.2% for response and 50.6% vs. 45.8% for remission. We demonstrate that the PI approach is independent of arbitrarily chosen reliabilities and reference populations. Furthermore, it takes differe…

Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults, a Cochrane systematic review

Simple methods for enhancing patient outcome in routine care: Measuring, monitoring, and feedback

While highly effective, psychotherapy outcome studies suggest 5?14% of clients worsen while in treatment and that therapists are unable to identify a substantial portion of such cases. Methods to systematically track client mental health functioning over the course of treatment and adjust treatment through the use of problem-solving tools are described. We summarize meta-analyses of the effects of a feedback system indicating that the number of psychotherapy patients who deteriorate can be cut in half. We conclude with a series of practice implications, including that clinicians seriously consider making formal methods of collecting client feedback a routine part of their daily practice.

Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults

BACKGROUND: Somatoform disorders are characterised by chronic, medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). Although different medications are part of treatment routines for people with somatoform disorders in clinics and private practices, there exists no systematic review or meta-analysis on the efficacy and tolerability of these medications. We aimed to synthesise to improve optimal treatment decisions.OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders (specifically somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, and pain disorder) in adults.SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxi…

The Factorial Structure of the Outcome Questionnaire-45: A Study with an Italian Sample.

In this article, the authors study the factorial structure of the Italian translation of the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45) in a sample of college students (n = 522) and psychiatric outpatients (n = 301). The relative goodness of fit of six competing models of the OQ-45 was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Specifically, the study examined the relative fit of the most frequently presented models in the literature and three alternative models. Results of the CFA provided support for the four factor bi-level solution, suggesting that the OQ-45 is a multidimensional instrument that contains one general factor and multiple unique subscale factors.