Group treatment of general practice anxiety problems

Abstract

This study examined the effects on anxiety levels and primary care team workload of group psychological treatment for anxiety compared with individual treatment. Patients making high demands on primary care services were selected for group treatment, following which demands for services were considerably reduced. Two types of group treatment were used: the anxiety support group required less staff time to run than the anxiety management group but neither treatment had a clinically significant impact on anxiety symptoms. Individual psychological treatment was more effective in reducing levels of anxiety but required slightly more staff time per patient. These findings show that there is no close correspondence between reduction of anxiety and reduction of service costs and underline the importance of evaluating treatment effects with reference to the specific objectives of treatment.