Using progress feedback to improve outcomes and reduce drop-out, treatment duration, and deterioration: A multilevel meta-analysis

Clinical Psychology Review, vol. 85, pp. 102002

Abstract

Progress feedback is an intervention aimed at enhancing patient outcomes in routine clinical practice. This study reports a comprehensive multilevel meta-analysis on the effectiveness of progress feedback in psychological treatments in curative care. The short- and long-term effects of feedback on symptom reduction were investigated using 58 (randomized and non-randomized) studies, analyzing 110 effect sizes in a total of 21,699 patients. Effects of feedback on dropout rate, percentage of deteriorated cases, and treatment duration were also examined. Moderation analyses were conducted for study and feedback characteristics. A small significant effect of progress feedback on symptom reduction (d = 0.15, 95% CI: [0.10, 0.20]) was found, compared to control groups. This was also true for not-on-track cases (d = 0.17, 95% CI: [0.11, 0.22]). In addition, feedback had a small favorable effect on dropout rates (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: [1.03, 1.38]). The moderation analyses identified several potentially interesting variables for further research, including feedback instrument, outcome instrument, type of feedback, feedback frequency, treatment intensity, and country in which the study was conducted. Future studies should report on these variables more consistently so that we can obtain a better understanding of when and why feedback improves outcomes.

Authors 6

1. Kim de Jong corresponding Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: KJong@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

2. Judith M. Conijn

   Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

3. Roisin A.V. Gallagher Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

4. Alexandra S. Reshetnikova Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

5. Marya Heij Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

6. Miranda Christine Lutz Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

   Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands