Outpatient group psychotherapeutic aftercare Effects after day treatment and inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation

Background In Germany psychosomatic rehabilitation treatment is an established pillar of the healthcare system in addition to acute medical care. The treatment effects in outpatient aftercare options in a group format should be stabilized in the sense of staged care and limited inpatient treatment times. Irrespective of the widespread distribution, very little research has been carried out on the effectiveness of these aftercare services. Material and methods In a naturalistic study with a pre-post design without a control group, a total of 261 patients in 23 psychosomatic aftercare groups were examined. In addition to sociodemographic data, the symptomatic burden was investigated at three measurement points with the clinical psychological diagnosis system 38 (KPD-38). Furthermore, the effectiveness for patients who had completed the full treatment was compared to the effectiveness for patients who stopped the measures prematurely. Results In the whole group the symptoms decreased significantly and with small to medium effects during the course of group treatment. Patients with a regular termination of the intervention benefited most in contrast to patients who terminated the intervention early. Conclusion The findings of the study are promising for the application of outpatient group psychotherapeutic aftercare; however, further studies on the effectiveness and predictors of the change are needed