Evaluation of a stress management program for high utilizers of a prepaid university health service.

This study examined the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention with high utilizers of a prepaid university health service. Each of 165 participants was assigned to one of three groups; health screening plus health education, health screening control, or no contact comparison. The treatment consisted of a 1-hour educational session designed to make participants aware of psychological and social factors that make people prone to illness and to inappropriate use of health resources. The treatment appeared to be responsible for reducing utilization of the university health center for a short period of time, with this effect dissipating over time. There were no significant differences between groups on other outcome measures. The findings for this treatment are compared with the results of other studies indicating the psychotherapy may have some effect in reducing inappropriate high medical care utilization.