Treatment of borderline personality disorder with psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization: an 18-month follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine whether the substantial gains made by patients with borderline personality disorder following completion of a psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization program, in comparison to patients treated with standard psychiatric care, were maintained over an 18-month follow-up period.


METHOD
Forty-four patients who participated in the original study were assessed every 3 months after completion of the treatment phase. Outcome measures included frequency of suicide attempts and acts of self-harm, number and duration of inpatient admissions, service utilization, and self-reported measures of depression, anxiety, general symptom distress, interpersonal functioning, and social adjustment.


RESULTS
Patients who completed the partial hospitalization program not only maintained their substantial gains but also showed a statistically significant continued improvement on most measures in contrast to the patients treated with standard psychiatric care, who showed only limited change during the same period.


CONCLUSIONS
The superiority of psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization over standard psychiatric treatment found in a previous randomized, controlled trial was maintained over an 18-month follow-up period. Continued improvement in social and interpersonal functioning suggests that longer-term changes were stimulated.