Response rates for CBT for anxiety disorders: Need for standardized criteria

Full appreciation of the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) requires both effect size data and individual rates of positive response. Response rates are particularly helpful for clinicians when choosing among treatment options. However, systematic reviews on cross-study response rates have not been conducted, possibly due to the absence of a standardized metric for calculating response rates. We conducted a systematic review of the treatment outcome literature to determine overall response rates to CBT for anxiety disorders and whether current methods of defining treatment response influence overall response rates. Our database search (2000-2014) resulted in 87 studies that reported response rates and included at least one CBT condition. Results showed that overall treatment response rates across anxiety disorders averaged 49.5% at post-treatment and 53.6% at follow-up. Response rates varied significantly as a function of the properties used to define them. Measures that incorporated more than one criterion, the combination of a reliable change index with a clinical cutoff (a clinically significant change), and intent-to-treat samples yielded lower response rates at post-treatment. Blinded independent assessors yielded higher response rates than unblinded assessors. Based on previous empirical and theoretical work, we recommend that future studies use a clinically significant change index, in an intent-to-treat analysis (using a mixed-model approach), reflecting multiple modalities, and assessed by independent blinded assessors. Our results indicate that such measures are likely to reduce response rates, but may result in a less biased and more accurate representation of improvement and achievement of normative functioning

Tumour regression in the randomized Stockholm III Trial ofradiotherapy regimens for rectal cancer

BackgroundThe Stockholm III Trial randomized patients with primary operable rectal cancers to either short-course radiotherapy (RT) with immediate surgery (SRT), short-course RT with surgery delayed 4-8 weeks (SRT-delay) or long-course RT with surgery delayed 4-8 weeks. This preplanned interim analysis examined the pathological outcome of delaying surgery. MethodsPatients randomized to the SRT and SRT-delay arms in the Stockholm III Trial between October 1998 and November 2010 were included, and data were collected in a prospective register. Additional data regarding tumour regression grade, according to Dworak, and circumferential margin were obtained by reassessment of histopathological slides. ResultsA total of 462 of 545 randomized patients had specimens available for reassessment. Patients randomized to SRT-delay had earlier ypT categories, and a higher rate of pathological complete responses (11<bold></bold>8 versus 1<bold></bold>7 per cent; P=0<bold></bold>001) and Dworak grade 4 tumour regression (10<bold></bold>1 versus 1<bold></bold>7 per cent; P<0<bold></bold>001) than patients randomized to SRT without delay. Positive circumferential resection margins were uncommon (6<bold></bold>3 per cent) and rates did not differ between the two treatment arms. ConclusionShort-course RT induces tumour downstaging if surgery is performed after an interval of 4-8 weeks

Vantage sensitivity: a framework for individual differences in response to psychological intervention

Purpose People differ significantly in their response to psychological intervention, with some benefitting more from treatment than others. According to the recently proposed theoretical framework of vantage sensitivity, some of this variability may be due to individual differences in environmental sensitivity, the inherent ability to register, and process external stimuli. In this paper, we apply the vantage sensitivity framework to the field of psychiatry and clinical psychology, proposing that some people are more responsive to the positive effects of psychological intervention due to heightened sensitivity. Methods After presenting theoretical frameworks related to environmental sensitivity, we review a selection of recent studies reporting individual differences in the positive response to psychological intervention. Results A growing number of studies report that some people benefit more from psychological intervention than others as a function of genetic, physiological, and psychological characteristics. These studies support the vantage sensitivity proposition that treatment response is influenced by factors associated with heightened sensitivity to environmental influences. More recently, studies have also shown that sensitivity can be measured with a short questionnaire which appears to predict the response to psychological intervention. Conclusions Vantage sensitivity is a framework with significant relevance for our understanding of widely observed heterogeneity in treatment response. It suggests that variability in response to treatment is partly influenced by people’s differing capacity for environmental sensitivity, which can be measured with a short questionnaire. Application of the vantage sensitivity framework to psychiatry and clinical psychology may improve our knowledge regarding when, how, and for whom interventions work

Predicting Response Trajectories during Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Panic Disorder: No Association with the BDNF Gene or Childhood Maltreatment.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and result in low quality of life and a high social and economic cost. The efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders is well established, but a substantial proportion of patients do not respond to this treatment. Understanding which genetic and environmental factors are responsible for this differential response to treatment is a key step towards "personalized medicine". Based on previous research, our objective was to test whether the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and/or childhood maltreatment are associated with response trajectories during exposure-based CBT for panic disorder (PD). METHOD: We used Growth Mixture Modeling to identify latent classes of change (response trajectories) in patients with PD (N = 97) who underwent group manualized exposure-based CBT. We conducted logistic regression to investigate the effect on these trajectories of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and two different types of childhood maltreatment, abuse and neglect. RESULTS: We identified two response trajectories ("high response" and "low response"), and found that they were not significantly associated with either the genetic (BDNF Val66Met polymorphism) or childhood trauma-related variables of interest, nor with an interaction between these variables. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence to support an effect of the BDNF gene or childhood trauma-related variables on CBT outcome in PD. Future studies in this field may benefit from looking at other genotypes or using different (e.g. whole-genome) approaches.This work was supported by a grant from Carlos III Health Institute/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (www.isciii.es) to MAF (PI12/00273). The authors of this report would also like to thank the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity PN 2008-2011 -Carlos III Health Institute/Fondo Europeo de Dessarrollo Regional-(PI1200018; www.mineco.gob.es), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red - Salud Mental-(www.cibersam.es), and the Universities and Research Secretariat, Ministry of the Vice-presidency and of the Economy and Finance of the Catalan Government (2014 SGR 1636; http://universitatsirecerca.gencat.cat/)