The effectiveness of adhering to clinical-practice guidelines for anxiety disorders in secondary mental health care: the results of a cohort study in the Netherlands

Background While studies into the implementation of clinical practice guidelines for mental health care are scarce, studies on the effectiveness of implementing practice guidelines for anxiety disorders appear to be entirely non‐existent. Objective To examine whether adherence to anxiety disorder clinical practice guidelines in secondary mental health care yields superior treatment results than non‐adherence. Method A closed‐cohort study of 181 outpatients with an anxiety disorder or hypochondriasis who were treated in a routine mental health setting. Preceding the inclusion of these 181 patients, a start was made on the implementation of the Dutch national multidisciplinary practice guidelines for anxiety disorders. Patients were asked to complete several questionnaires before the start of treatment and again 1 year later. The medical records of these patients were reviewed to assess guideline adherence. Ultimately, adherence or non‐adherence to the different treatment algorithms described in the guidelines was related to changes in the severity of psychiatric symptomatology, psychiatric functioning, general well‐being and satisfaction with treatment. Results Compared with patients whose treatment did not adhere to the guidelines, those whose treatment adhered to the guidelines were found to have greater symptom reduction after 1 year (P