Trial reportNeurology2010
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a pilot RCT.
Trial report in Neurology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 94 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Evaluation d'un Dispositif de Suivi téléphonique Sur la Qualité de Vie Dans Les Crises Psychogènes Non Epileptiques.
COgnitive Behavioural Therapy Versus Standardised Medical Care for Adults With Dissociative Non-Epileptic Seizures: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial (CODES)
Ketogenic Diet Effects on the Frequency of Non Epileptic Seizures in Patients With Dissociative Neurological Symptom Disorder: a Pilot Study
Accelerated, Left Prefrontal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Functional Seizures; An Open-Label Exploration of Feasibility, Tolerability, and Preliminary Efficacy
Who cites it
94 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 459 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment of functional neurological disorder: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Psychosocial interventions for conversion and dissociative disorders in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Outcome measurement in functional neurological disorder: a systematic review and recommendations.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- A unifying theory for cognitive abnormalities in functional neurological disorders, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome: systematic review.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Psychological and behavioural treatments for adults with non-epileptic attack disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Trial
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy compared with standardised medical care for adults with dissociative non-epileptic seizures: the CODES RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- The experience of trial participation, treatment approaches and perceptions of change among participants with dissociative seizures within the CODES randomized controlled trial: A qualitative study.Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · 2020Trial
- Retraining and control therapy for pediatric psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2020Trial
- Cognitive behavioural therapy for adults with dissociative seizures (CODES): a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2020Trial
- The experiences of therapists providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for dissociative seizures in the CODES randomized controlled trial: A qualitative study.Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- COgnitive behavioural therapy vs standardised medical care for adults with Dissociative non-Epileptic Seizures (CODES): a multicentre randomised controlled trial protocol.BMC neurology · 2015Trial
- Treatment of Functional Neurological Disorders.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2026Review
- Functional neurological disorder: characterization, diagnosis, and outcome predictors in a Brazilian cohort.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Current Mental Health Treatment Practices for Functional Neurological Disorders (FND): A Provider Survey.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- The effectiveness of specialist cognitive behavioural therapy for functional neurological disorder: a service evaluation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Risk, Precipitating, and Perpetuating Factors in Functional Neurological Disorder: A Systematic Review Across Clinical Subtypes.Brain sciences · 2025Review
34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and standard medical care (SMC) as treatments for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).
methodsOur randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared CBT with SMC in an outpatient neuropsychiatric setting. Sixty-six PNES patients were randomized to either CBT (plus SMC) or SMC alone, scheduled to occur over 4 months. PNES diagnosis was established by video-EEG telemetry for most patients. Exclusion criteria included comorbid history of epilepsy, <2 PNES/month, and IQ <70. The primary outcome was seizure frequency at end of treatment and at 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included 3 months of seizure freedom at 6-month follow-up, measures of psychosocial functioning, health service use, and employment.
resultsIn an intention-to-treat analysis, seizure reduction following CBT was superior at treatment end (group x time interaction p < 0.0001; large to medium effect sizes). At follow-up, the CBT group tended to be more likely to have experienced 3 months of seizure freedom (odds ratio 3.125, p = 0.086). Both groups improved in some health service use measures and on the Work and Social Adjustment Scale. Mood and employment status showed no change.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that cognitive-behavioral therapy is more effective than standard medical care alone in reducing seizure frequency in PNES patients. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that CBT in addition to SMC, as compared to SMC alone, significantly reduces seizure frequency in patients with PNES (change in median monthly seizure frequency: baseline to 6 months follow-up, CBT group, 12 to 1.5; SMC alone group, 8 to 5).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.