Results of psychophysiological, psychoendocrinological, and psychoneuroimmunological research on the skin in patients with atopic dermatitis were evaluated. 11 investigations were selected and analysed with respect to both design and results. In 6 instances, healthy or ill control groups were included, rarely did the sample size exceed 30. With respect to physiology, blood pressure, heart rate and EDA were most commonly assessed; with respect to immunology, number of leucocytes and differential blood count and with respect to psychology, anxiety, neuroticism and stress perception. The results involving stress induction, itching induction and the relationship of personality and skin parameters were not consistent. The best established relationship is that between skin reactivity (flare, wheal size and pruritus) on the one hand and cognitive appraisal of stress-stimuli and the experimental situation on the other hand. Psychoendocrinological and even more psychoimmunological indicators of the stress of reaction-unlike psychophysiological indicators-were correlated with the skin response. Only half of the studies found an elevated physiological stress reaction in patients with atopic dermatitis.

This article describes the development of an outpatient concept for the day-clinic withdrawal treatment of alcohol dependent persons in a Hamburg institution for addiction aid. It reports the initial, selected results of a comparative follow-up study of patients discharged during the years 1998-2000, who either receive ambulatory treatment in the day clinic (n = 270) or inpatient treatment in the institution's special clinic (n = 462). Assessable questionnaires are available from 131 outpatients of the day-clinic treatment and 173 patients of the inpatient treatment form. The response rate - with reference to the group of those who were reachable - was 57.2 % for patients of the day clinic and 53.2 % for patients of the special clinic. The results of the study arrive at the conclusion that both treatment forms can be seen as thoroughly comparable with regard to primary outcome measurements (for example reduction of psychological stress, abstinence rates, reintegration into occupational life). Rehabilitants treated in the inpatient setting more frequently report that they had already contacted centres for further treatment and self-help groups during the rehabilitation phase, which however doesn't lead to a change of participation behaviour following the rehabilitation phase. This serves to confirm the assumption that an additional offer of a day-clinic service in the area of addiction rehabilitation provides a further, effective treatment concept that sensibly supplements the otherwise inpatient-oriented treatment landscape. The results indicate the quality of the work performed in the day clinic studied (as well as in the inpatient clinic) and should encourage the funding agencies and employees of other day clinic institutions in the field of addiction rehabilitation to participate in evaluation and quality assurance measures, thus continuing to bridge the gap between the (theoretical) state of knowledge concerning outpatient rehabilitation and the degree to which it can be successfully realized.

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Schlüsselwörter: Alkoholabhängigkeit ± Ambulante Therapie ± AkupunkturResults of a Study on Outpatient Acupuncture Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Dependent Clients at a Counseling Center: In accompaniment to their treatment, 228 alcohol dependent clients participating in an outpatient acupuncture therapy for substance addiction (aural acupuncture with three to five points on each ear) were surveyed concerning characteristics of their alcohol consumption and their psychological and somatic conditions. Long-term effects of the treatment, participation in further treatment measures, subjective attitudes, and evaluations of the acupuncture treatment (causal attributions etc.) were catamnestically examined (returned questionnaires: 35.4 %). The results of the study, which was performed within the framework of a commission by the Martha-Stiftung for the preparation of a larger evaluation study, show improvements in all of the result variables which were analyzed. The status of the psychological and somatic well-being achieved at the end of the treatment was able to be maintained during the catamnesis period, while the consumption behavior worsened during the same period. The consumption behavior was however significantly better at the time-point of the follow-up interview than at the beginning of the treatment. The success of the therapy does not have a statistically significant relationship to the examined therapy conditions with the exception of the number of treatment sessions in which the patients participated.