1. Title:
Longitudinal study of the treatment of traumatised refugees at CTP
2. Project period:
15-04-2008 – 15-06-2009
3. Investigator:
Cæcilie Buhmann, MD, PhD
4. Aims
- To evaluate changes in the condition of patients treated with a combination of
antidepressants and trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy.
- To elucidate whether the patient's condition changes over time in the years following
manualised and specialised psychiatric treatment.
5. Methods
5.1 Number of participants:
140
5.2 Population:
Adult trauma-affected refugees referred to treatment at CTP
5.3 Description of data and data collection
Ideally, all patients are treated for six months and have a weekly session with a psychiatrist
(10 sessions in total) and a psychologist (16 sessions in total) respectively.
A total of 217 patients were referred to treatment and of those, 140 patients satisfactorily
completed the planned course of treatment, including ratings at the beginning and end of
the treatment. The patients completed self-ratings to measure functional level, quality of
life and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
All participants have been invited to a follow-up interview 18 months after completing the
treatment. At this follow-up short interviews were conducted, including ratings on quality of
life and functional level as well as symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. In addition,
an assessment of stressful events in the patient’s life since completing the treatment is
carried out.
The change in the condition was assessed using statistical analyses, including paired t-tests,
Cohen’s d, Pearson’s correlation coefficients and reliable change index.
6. Dissemination of results
The results have been published as a PhD thesis and 3 peer reviewed papers: