Recent discussion has emphasized the importance of assessments of clinical
significance of outcome in treatment outcome studies. Several methods exist
to assess clinical significance, one of which is the use of global ratings
of outcome. This study reports the use of such measures in a treatment
outcome study investigating pharmacological and psychological
treatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia in primary care. Outcome is
reported in terms of global ratings of symptom severity and of change in
symptoms following treatment, completed by the psychologist, referring
General Practitioners (GPs) and patients. Treatments involving cognitive
behaviour therapy showed greater efficacy than those employing
pharmacological treatments alone. Considerable agreement was demonstrated
between psychologist and patient ratings. Such agreement was much less
obvious for ratings completed by referring GPs. Possible reasons for this
are advanced.