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Agoraphobia: The Long-Term Follow-up of Behavioural Treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Mary Munby  and
Derek W. Johnston
Mary Munby
Affiliation:
The Psychological Treatment Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX
Derek W. Johnston
Affiliation:
The Psychological Treatment Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX
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Summary

Sixty-six agoraphobic patients were followed up five to nine years after their treatment in three clinical trials of behaviour therapy. The main outcome measures used in the original trials were repeated by an assessor who interviewed the patients. Ninety-five per cent of patients were interviewed and partial information was obtained on a further two patients. The measures taken at follow-up were compared with those obtained prior to treatment and six months after treatment ended. On most measures of agoraphobia the patients were much better at follow-up than they had been before treatment. The assessor's ratings suggested that there had been little change in the patients' agoraphobia since six months after treatment. Some of the patients' self-ratings showed evidence of a slight improvement over this period. No evidence of symptom substitution was found.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 137 , Issue 5 , November 1980 , pp. 418 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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