One-year follow-up of day treatment for poorly functioning patients with personality disorders.

OBJECTIVE The study evaluated the effectiveness of day treatment for poorly functioning patients with personality disorders who participated in day treatment consisting of analytically oriented and cognitive-behavioral therapy groups as part of a comprehensive group therapy program. METHODS At admission, discharge, and one year after discharge, patients completed the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Symptom Check List 90-R and the circumplex version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-C) and were assessed using the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. At one-year follow-up, patients also completed a questionnaire covering social adaptation and clinical information and participated in a telephone interview with a clinician. The clinician used the completed instruments and results of the interview to assign patients follow-up GAF scores. RESULTS Follow-up data were available for 96 patients who completed the study, or 53 percent of the patients who were admitted to the study. Improvements in GAF, GSI, and IIP-C scores during day treatment were maintained at follow-up. Seventy-four percent of the treatment completers improved clinically from program admission to follow-up, as indicated by change in GAF scores, and 64 percent of the treatment completers continued in the outpatient group program. For the 26 percent of patients whose change in GAF score did not indicate clinical improvement, lack of improvement was most strongly predicted by the expression of suicidal thoughts during treatment. No patients committed suicide. CONCLUSIONS The day treatment program appears to be effective in improving the symptoms and functioning of poorly functioning patients with personality disorders and in encouraging patients to continue in longer-term outpatient therapy.