The List of Individual Symptoms for Therapy Evaluation (LISTE)--an efficient method for individualized outcome assessment.

Abstract

An newly developed method for individualized assessment of therapy outcome, the "List of Individual Symptoms for Therapy Evaluation" (LISTE), is presented together with first empirical results on its testmetric properties and experience with this assessment instrument is reported. The LISTE method is an approach for objective 2-point assessment of therapy outcome which aims to use the advantages of individualized assessment methods while avoiding the known disadvantages to a considerable extent. So far, the results and experience with this method are very encouraging. The results of a first empirical evaluation indicate that the method supplies clinically relevant and objective data relating to treatment outcome, and that the method has acceptable testmetric characteristics in terms of sufficient reliability and validity values. Furthermore, the LISTE method is convenient for interviewing the therapist, parents and patients, it is neither expensive nor time consuming, and is compatible with clinical routine. The method requires little training and involves little additional effort. It can be used for face-to-face interviews or telephone interviews, and can also be applied as a paper-and-pencil test. Issues of application and the need for further studies are discussed.