[Results of a 1-year follow-up study of neighborhood ambulatory aftercare after inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation].

Attention has been repeatedly drawn to the necessity to support patients after psychosomatic rehabilitation with their transfer of skills acquired during their stay at the interface between their inpatient treatment and their reintegration into everyday life. The authors' concept of the outpatient aftercare was already introduced in an earlier paper. This article presents the results of the one-year follow-up. A comparison with a control group revealed a further reduction of patients' depression. In contrast to the control group, the reduction in fear and discomfort already achieved during inpatient rehabilitation remained stable. At the same time the ability to cope with everyday life was expanded. Compared with the control group the participants of the aftercare could reduce the absence from work, days spent in hospital and visits to the doctor more than twice as much. Methodological problems of the design of the study are critically discussed.