Are Samples in Randomized Controlled Trials of Psychotherapy Representative of Community Outpatients? A New Methodology and Initial Findings

To determine the extent to which published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychotherapy can be generalized to a sample of community outpatients, the authors used a method of matching information obtained from outpatient charts to inclusion and exclusion criteria from published RCT studies. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2003-12, Vol.71 (6), p.963-972
Main Authors: Stirman, Shannon Wiltsey, DeRubeis, Robert J, Crits-Christoph, Paul, Brody, Pamela E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavioural disorders
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical outcomes
Clinical psychology
Clinical trials
Comorbidity
Evaluation Criteria
Experimental Subjects
Experimentation
Female
Generalizability
Human
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mental Disorders - therapy
Methodology
Methodology. Experimentation
Middle Aged
New Jersey
Outcome Assessment (Health Care) - statistics & numerical data
Outpatient
Outpatients
Outpatients - statistics & numerical data
Patient Selection
Patients
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Randomized controlled trials
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic - statistics & numerical data
Research methods
Selection Bias
Techniques and methods
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Summary:To determine the extent to which published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychotherapy can be generalized to a sample of community outpatients, the authors used a method of matching information obtained from outpatient charts to inclusion and exclusion criteria from published RCT studies. They found that 80% of the patients in their sample who had diagnoses represented in the RCT literature were judged eligible for at least 1 published RCT; however, 58% of the patients had primary diagnoses such as adjustment disorder or dysthymia, which were not represented in the existing psychotherapy outcome literature. The most common reasons that patients in their sample did not match with published RCTs for psychotherapy are listed, and the implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.71.6.963