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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Jun;28(6):819-834.
doi: 10.1007/s00787-018-1247-4. Epub 2018 Nov 3.

The effect of patients' feedback on treatment outcome in a child and adolescent psychiatric sample: a randomized controlled trial

Rint K de Jong  1 , Heddeke Snoek  2 , Wouter G Staal  3   4   5 , Helen Klip  4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The effect of patients' feedback on treatment outcome in a child and adolescent psychiatric sample: a randomized controlled trial

Rint K de Jong et al. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

The systematic use of feedback from patients on treatment progress and treatment satisfaction is a promising method to increase treatment effectiveness. The extent to which this also applies to the treatment of children with severe psychiatric problems is not clear. We conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to study the effect of adding Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) to care as usual in a child psychiatric sample. Quality of Life (QoL) was used as the primary outcome measure and symptom severity as the second. Fifty-one therapists from eight Autism Care Teams in a multi-center facility for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Karakter) participated and were cluster randomized to the FIT condition (n = 4 teams) or the Care as Usual (CAU) condition (n = 4 teams). Children aged 6-18 years, mainly with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and treated in one of the Autism Care Teams were allocated to the FIT condition (n = 86) or the CAU condition (n = 80). Results indicated that adding FIT leads to an increased QoL [F (2,165) = 3.16, p = 0.045]. No additional effects were observed for symptom severity decrease [F (2,158) = 0.19, p = 0.825]. No interaction with time was found for QoL nor symptom severity. Adding FIT in a child psychiatric setting may increase QoL, but does not appear to decrease symptom severity as compared with CAU. It is suggested that FIT positively changes parents' expectations. Results should be replicated in other child psychiatric samples and with an extended theoretical model.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Child and adolescent psychiatry; Feedback informed treatment; Quality of Life; Randomized controlled trial; Symptom severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of this study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Estimated marginal means of the total score on the Kidscreen-27 at T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Estimated marginal means of the total score on the Y-OQ-30 at T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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