AUTHOR=Bever-Philipps Anke , Silbermann Andrea , Morawa Eva , Schäflein Eva , Stemmler Mark , Erim Yesim 

TITLE=Long-term follow-up of a multimodal day clinic, group-based treatment program for patients with very high risk for complex posttraumatic stress disorder, and for patients with non-complex trauma-related disorders

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1152486

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1152486

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Objective: The present study examined the follow-up of a multimodal day clinic group-based therapy program and investigated potential differences for patients with classic PTSD versus cPTSD. 
Method: 66 patients were contacted 6 and 12 months after discharge of our 8-week program and completed various questionnaires (Essen Trauma Inventory (ETI), Beck Depression Inventory-Revised (BDI-II), Screening scale of complex PTSD (SkPTBS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-Somatization, as well as single items to therapy utilization and life events in the interim period). Statistical analyses included repeated-measures ANOVA with cPTSD as between-subject factor.
Results: The reduction of depressive symptoms at discharge was persistent at 6 and 12 months follow-up. Somatization symptoms were increased at discharge, but were levelled out at 6 months follow-up. The same effect was found for cPTSD symptoms in those patients with non-complex trauma-related disorders: Their increase of cPTSD symptoms was flattened at 6 months follow-up. Patients with a very high risk for cPTSD showed a strong linear reduction of cPTSD symptoms from admission to discharge and 6 months follow-up. cPTSD patients had a higher symptom load compared to patients without cPTSD on all time points and scales. 
Conclusions: Multimodal, day clinic trauma-focused treatment is effective over 6 and 12 months after treatment. Positive therapy outcomes could be maintained. Increases in somatoform symptoms were levelled out and can therefore be regarded as side effects of treatment, which may be connected with actualization of trauma in the intensive psychotherapeutic treatment. Further analyses should be applied in larger samples and a control group.