(May 19, 2010 - Insidermedicine)

A program designed to train and support primary care doctors and their staff as they provide treatment for anxiety disorders has been shown to be effective in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Here is some information about anxiety disorders:

•    They are associated with the experience of intense, prolonged feelings of distress and fright for no obvious reasons

•    They are the most common of all mental disorders

•    They include panic disorder, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder

Researchers out of the University of Washington School of Medicine  randomly assigned over 1,000 individuals suffering from one or more anxiety disorders to treatment by primary care services using a flexible treatment-delivery model known as Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management, or CALM, or to usual care. CALM included training modules for staff, computer assisted programs to help them properly tailor treatments, and a web-based follow-up system that allowed patients to be monitored by experts in anxiety disorders in real time. It offered a flexible array of treatments that patients could choose from and that could be modified as needed. The treatment lasted for 3 to 12 months, depending on each individual patient’s needs.

After 6, 12, and 18 months, measures of overall anxiety were significantly more improved among those treated through the CALM program as compared with those who received usual care. After one year, a greater proportion of patients treated through the CALM program responded to their treatment, meaning they had a significant reduction in their anxiety, or went into remission, meaning their anxiety was reduced to what are considered normal levels. About five to six patients would need to be treated through the CALM program for one to achieve a response or remission.

Today’s research demonstrates how a program designed to train and support primary care staff can be used to effectively deliver treatment for anxiety disorders in a wide variety of settings.