Effectiveness of the implementation of guidelines for anxiety disorders in specialized mental health care

Objective To examine the effect of implementing anxiety disorders guidelines on guideline adherence and patient outcomes in specialized mental health care. Method A treatment setting in which guidelines were implemented (intervention condition) was compared with one in which guidelines were only disseminated (control condition). Results Of 61.7% of 81 intervention‐condition patients received treatment according to the guidelines vs. 40.6% of 69 control‐condition patients (P = 0.01). At 1‐year follow‐up, intervention‐condition patients showed a greater decrease in anxiety symptoms (d = 0.48, P