Completed

NCT Number: NCT00833742

Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) in the Emergency Department

Objective: Somatization of emotions accounts for excess Emergency department (ED) visits. Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has methods to diagnose and manage somatization. We examined the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of ISTDP diagnostic and treatment methods used for patients with repeated ED presentations for medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUS)

Completed

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Key information

Conditions

Somatic Complaints of Multiple Types

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Capital Health

Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2E2, Canada

About this study

Herein we report the methods and outcomes of rapidly-accessed, emotion-focused diagnostic and treatment services for patients presenting to the ED with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Patients who were assessed and referred by ED physicians will serve as a non-randomized condition controlling for some relevant variables. Our a priori hypotheses were that assessed and treated patients would have a reduction in ED visits and self reported symptoms after this intervention and that controls would have a smaller reduction in ED visits if any.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Unexplained symptoms

Exclusion criteria

Psychosis, substance abuse, suicidality

Treatment and study plan