BACKGROUND Only few studies investigated the relation between concordance with treatment guidelines and treatment outcome in everyday treatment of bipolar disorder (BD). Prospective studies are scarce. METHODS A nationwide, naturalistic,… Click to show full abstract
BACKGROUND Only few studies investigated the relation between concordance with treatment guidelines and treatment outcome in everyday treatment of bipolar disorder (BD). Prospective studies are scarce. METHODS A nationwide, naturalistic, prospective study on the relation between guideline concordance and treatment outcome in the long-term outpatient treatment of patients with BD. Participants completed a survey on treatments received and various outcome measures at baseline and after one year. RESULTS Of 839 patients who completed the baseline survey, 615 (73.3%) also completed the follow-up survey. Consistent with our a priori hypothesis, cross-sectional analyses at baseline showed correlations between guideline concordance with quality of life (r = .17, p < .001), treatment satisfaction (r = .17, p <.001), and impaired functioning (r = -.10, p = .04). At follow-up, guideline concordance was correlated with severity of illness (r = -.10, p = .05), quality of life (r = .18, p < .001), and treatment satisfaction (r = .15, p < .001). Concerning three additional hypotheses on longitudinal relations between concordance and outcome measures, only a positive relation was found between change in guideline concordance and change in quality of life. LIMITATIONS Selection bias may have occurred by inclusion of patients with neither a very severe nor a very mild course of illness. CONCLUSIONS Although guideline concordance was high throughout the study, change in guideline concordance was positively associated with change in quality of life, suggesting that especially in long-term treatment, continuous efforts to optimize ongoing treatment is essential.
               
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