Jerzy A. Sobański

Statistic analysis of the neurotic symptoms dynamics during intensive psychotherapy in a day hospital setting             41

Summary

Aim: Analysis of the global neurotic symptom dynamics during intensive integrative psychotherapy in a day-hospital setting, and its relation to the treatment outcome. Method: 4345 symptom check-lists SCL"0", filled in by 319 patients treated in the years 1990—1998 were analysed. The studied group consisted of 235 women and 84 men suffering from somatization disorders, generalized anxiety disorder and dissociative disorders. Results: In groups of patients with different therapy outcome, different types of sequential changes of global symptom level ("GSL") were observed. Some phenomena like for example unchanged symptom level ("plateau") lasting for a few weeks, occurred with different frequency - related to the final therapy outcome. Decrease of the global symptom level below 200 points in women and 165 points in men often preceded global symptom exacerbation and occurred even in therapies with non-beneficial final results. Conclusion: Some aspects of the global neurotic symptom dynamics may be treated as additional markers of beneficial or non-beneficial therapy processes. Sequences of symptom decreases, as well as sequences of short increases were connected to better final results. Weekly measurements of the symptom level (with the use of checklists) may be useful for monitoring the psychotherapy process, but the decrease of the GSL to the values typical for the healthy population does not permit one to consider a patient as a "cured" one. Even decrease of GSL below 100 (women) / 82 (men) points was not always connected to its further stability.