It has been claimed that the monitoring of ongoing psychotherapy is of crucial importance for improving the quality of mental health care. This study investigated the effect of using the Norwegian version of the patient feedback system OQ-Analyst using the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2. Patients from six psychiatric clinics in Southern Norway (N = 259) were randomized to feedback (FB) or no feedback (NFB). The main effect of feedback was statistical significant (p = .027), corroborating the hypothesis that feedback would improve the quality of services, although the size of the effect was small to moderate (d = 0.32). The benefits of feedback have to be considered against the costs of implementation.

The means, clinical cut-offs, and the reliable change index vary across countries. However, the means of the OQ-45 for nonclinical samples correlate highly with external values of national well-being, indicating that the OQ-45 is a valid instrument internationally. The factor analyses in the present study do not confirm the hypothesized factor structure of the OQ-45, but are similar to the results internationally.

The use of OQ®-Analyst should be recommended in psychotherapeutic settings in Norway. Given the inconsistent results regarding the effect of warning signals, definitive conclusions about their effect may depend upon how and for whom it is used.

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