Course of illness following specialized inpatient treatment for women with trauma-related psychopathology.

Abstract

The authors report findings from repeated assessments of 101 women who received intensive inpatient treatment focused on trauma-related disorders. All patients were assessed at admission and discharge, and half were reassessed at 1-year follow-up. Measures included the Global Assessment Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory, Role Functioning Scales, Follow-up Adjustment Scale, and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. As a group, patients improved substantially during hospitalization and maintained gains at follow-up, although they showed a trend toward relapse in some symptom areas. However, a substantial minority of patients continued to show severe impairment at follow-up. In light of continual need for changes in clinical programs in the face of declining reimbursement, there is a pressing need for future outcome research on specialized trauma programs to relate subsequent clinical course to specific treatment interventions.