Do psychoanalytic treatments have positive effects on health and health care utilization? Further findings of the Stockholm Outcome of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis Project (STOPPP)

Effects of psychoanalytic treatment on subjective health and health care utilization were studied in a sample of 420 patients in various stages of psychotherapeutic treatment. Outcome measures, based on a self-report questionnaire taken for three consecutive years, included the Self-Rated Health Scale (SRH), General Symptom Index (GSI) from the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), and Sense of Coherence Scale (SOCS) as well as self-reports on health care utilization during the past 12 months. The study had a quasi-experimental, accelerated longitudinal design. Individual raw scores of the dependent variables were regressed, one by one, on an eight-step treatment stage scale. Sex, age, and education level were entered in a first block to partial out their possible effects. In contrast to the significant positive developments found on the subjective health measures (SRH, GSI, and SOCS), no significant change was found on the health care utilization variables. The complications in interpreting psychotherapy effects on health and health care utilization are discussed.