Evaluating Clinical Improvement in Anxious Outpatients: A Comparison of Normal and Treated Neurotic Patients
KARL RICKELS M.D.1,
RONALD S. LIPMAN PH.D.2,
CELSO-RAMON GARCIA M.D.3, , and
ELLEN FISHER 4
1 Professor of Psychiatry, University Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104, Director of Psychopharmacology, Philadelphia General Hospital
2 Chief, Clinical Studies Section, Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Chevy Chase, Md.
3 William Shippen, Jr., Professor of Human Reproduction, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
4 Research Assistant, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
The emotional distress reported on the 64-item Patient Symptom Checklist by 133 anxious neurotic outpatients participating in a four-week drug trial was compared with that of 135 nonneurotic gynecological patients. Highly significant differences existed between the two patient groups before treatment. At the end of the trial period, those anxious patients who rated themselves as markedly improved had symptom distress levels that were not very different from those of the normal patients.
