PRETREATMENT PATIENT FACTORS PREDICTING ATTRITION FROM A MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TREATMENT STUDY FOR PANIC DISORDER

This study examined pretreatment factors associated with attrition fro m a clinical trial for panic disorder. The study group consisted of 16 2 patients who began Ii-visit treatments. Six domains (demography, pan ic disorder severity, psychiatric comorbidity, illness/treatment attri butions, coping styles, and personality styles) with 52 variables were used to predict attrition. One hundred twenty-two patients completed and 40 dropped out from treatment. Final multivariate regression analy ses showed that the following two variables were independently associa ted with attrition: lower household income and negative treatment atti tudes; attributing the panic disorder to life stressors and greater ag e were independently associated with attrition at the trend level. Pre liminary analyses suggested, in addition, associations between attriti on and lower education, shorter length of prior treatment, higher anxi ety sensitivity, lower agoraphobic avoidance, and a coping style of se eking social support that were not confirmed by best predictor analysi s. Psychiatric comorbidity and personality styles were unrelated to at trition. The implications of these findings for future research and cl inical practice are discussed. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Com pany.