8-year follow-up of patients treated for borderline personality disorder: mentalization-based treatment versus treatment as usual.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

This study evaluated the effect of mentalization-based treatment by partial hospitalization compared to treatment as usual for borderline personality disorder 8 years after entry into a randomized, controlled trial and 5 years after all mentalization-based treatment was complete.

METHOD:

Interviewing was by research psychologists blind to original group allocation and structured review of medical notes of 41 patients from the original trial. Multivariate analysis of variance, chi-square, univariate analysis of variance, and nonparametric Mann-Whitney statistics were used to contrast the two groups depending on the distribution of the data.

RESULTS:

Five years after discharge from mentalization-based treatment, the mentalization-based treatment by partial hospitalization group continued to show clinical and statistical superiority to treatment as usual on suicidality (23% versus 74%), diagnostic status (13% versus 87%), service use (2 years versus 3.5 years of psychiatric outpatient treatment), use of medication (0.02 versus 1.90 years taking three or more medications), global function above 60 (45% versus 10%), and vocational status (employed or in education 3.2 years versus 1.2 years).

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients with 18 months of mentalization-based treatment by partial hospitalization followed by 18 months of maintenance mentalizing group therapy remain better than those receiving treatment as usual, but their general social function remains impaired.

• Authors: Anthony Bateman, Peter Fonagy
• Journal: The American journal of psychiatry (Am J Psychiatry) Vol. 165 Issue 5 Pg. 631-8 (May 2008) ISSN: 1535-7228 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 18347003 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Adult
• Borderline Personality Disorder (drug therapy, epidemiology, therapy)
• Double-Blind Method
• Drug Therapy (methods, statistics & numerical data)
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Hospitalization (statistics & numerical data)
• Humans
• Psychotherapy (methods, statistics & numerical data)
• Suicide, Attempted (psychology)