Monday, June 21, 2021

Matching patients with effective therapists improves mental health coutcomes

 A recent paper in JAMA Psychiatry reveals that matching patients to therapists who are effective at treating their particular issues improves mental health outcomes. (This may allow you to update your priors on either matching or therapy...)

Effect of Matching Therapists to Patients vs Assignment as Usual on Adult Psychotherapy Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial  by Michael J. Constantino, PhD1; James F. Boswell, PhD2; Alice E. Coyne, MS1; et alThomas P. Swales, PhD3; David R. Kraus, PhD, JAMA Psychiatry. Published online June 9, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.1221

"Question  Can assigning patients to therapists with empirically determined strengths in treating the patients’ specific mental health problem(s) (ie, measurement-based matching) improve the outcomes of naturalistic psychotherapy compared with case assignment as usual?

"Findings  In this 2-arm, double-blind randomized clinical trial including 48 therapists and 218 outpatients, measurement-based matching promoted significantly greater reductions in patients’ general symptomatic and functional impairment, global psychological distress, and domain-specific impairment on patients’ most elevated presenting problem over 16 weeks post intake.

"Meaning  In this study, mental health care was enhanced by prospectively assigning patients to empirically good-fitting therapists, which requires minimal disruptions within a mental health care system."

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