The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 195: 15-22. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.053967
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in BJP
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Knaup, C.
Right arrow Articles by Puschner, B.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Knaup, C.
Right arrow Articles by Puschner, B.

REVIEW ARTICLES

Effect of feedback of treatment outcome in specialist mental healthcare: meta-analysis

Carina Knaup, Dipl-Psych, Markus Koesters, Dipl-Psych, Dorothea Schoefer, Dipl-Psych, Thomas Becker, MD and Bernd Puschner, PhD

Department of Psychiatry II, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany

Correspondence: Bernd Puschner, Ulm University, Department of Psychiatry II, Ludwig-Heilmeyer-Str. 2, 89312 Günzburg, Germany. Email: bernd.puschner{at}bkh-guenzburg.de

Declaration of interest

None.

Funding

This review was carried out during the course of the study ‘Outcome monitoring and outcome management in inpatient psychiatric care’ (EMM), which received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant number 01GL0504).

Background

Feedback of treatment outcome during the course of therapy (outcome management) is increasingly considered to be beneficial for improving the quality of mental healthcare.

Aims

To review the impact of feedback of outcome to practitioners and/or patients in specialist mental health services.

Method

A systematic search and meta-analysis of controlled trials using outcome management in mental health services published in English or German language.

Results

Twelve studies met inclusion criteria. Feeding back outcome showed a small, but significant (d = 0.10; 95% CI 0.01–0.19) positive short-term effect on the mental health of individuals that did not prevail in the long run. Subgroup analysis revealed no significant differences regarding feedback modalities. Outcome management did not contribute to a reduction of treatment duration.

Conclusions

Evidence on the effects of outcome management in mental healthcare is promising. More targeted research is needed in order to identify the effective ingredients of outcome feedback and to assess its cost-effectiveness.


Related articles in BJP:

From the Editor’s desk
Peter Tyrer
BJP 2009 195: 96. [Full Text]