AGORAPHOBIA AND PANIC DISORDER - 3.5 YEARS AFTER ALPRAZOLAM AND OR EXPOSURE TREATMENT/

Background: Long-term follow-ups after controlled studies of exposure therapy for agoraphobia/panic are few. Most of these studies found tha t improvement during treatment persists to the end of follow-up. Metho ds: Out of 69 patients with panic disorder plus agoraphobia who had be en in an 8-week controlled study of alprazolam and/or exposure, 31 wer e followed up at a mean of 3.5 years later (4 years after trial entry) . The 31 patients followed up included more cases who had relapsed at week 43 than did the group which did not attend the 3.5-year follow-up . Results: As a group, followed-up cases maintained their gains over t he 3.5 years, more so among ex-exposure than ex-relaxation cases. Ex-e xposure patients did significantly better than relaxation patients on disability and survival time. Ex-alprazolam and ex-exposure patients d id not differ significantly on any variable at the 3.5-year follow-up. No baseline variable predicted outcome at follow-up. Conclusions: Pre sent results modestly confirm those of previous studies finding lastin g improvement years after exposure, though some residual symptoms were the norm.