Long-term Outcome of Disorder-specific Group Therapy for Multisomatoform Disorders: A 3-Year Follow-up Study

摘要

Little is known about the long-term effectiveness of disorder-specific group interventions for somatoform disorders. In total 128 patients with somatoform disorders who had participated in 2 different 8-week outpatient group programs (cognitive-behavioral therapy or progressive muscle relaxation) were questioned at baseline and at the end of treatment. On average, there was a follow-up after 6 months and after 3 years (3-year follow-up response rate: 63.3 %). Both interventions were combined for long-term analysis as there were no substantial differences. In 2.5 % of cases a possible medical cause was found for complaints originally considered as somatoform. A short disorder-specific group intervention achieved small effect sizes (range: 0.14-0.40; ITT-sample range: 0.06-0.33) in the long term; about 30 % of patients can be considered responders. Further efforts are needed to improve the treatment of patients with somatoform disorders.