Sustained response

A sustained response means an improvement that holds up over time, rather than fading after a few weeks.

This term is specific to research interpretation and is defined on AnxietyResearch. Shrinktionary, the network's language layer, doesn't currently carry a canonical entry for it.

A treatment can produce a fast improvement that doesn't last. Sustained response is the opposite. It describes a benefit that is still present months later. It is measured by following people after they improve and checking whether they stay improved.

Patients don't want to feel better only briefly. Sustained response is closer to the goal of treatment than a short-term response. For therapies like CBT, one argued advantage is that the skills may keep working after treatment ends, which would show up as a more sustained response compared with stopping a medication.

A trial follows people for a year after they responded to treatment. The share who are still well at one year is the sustained response rate.

Sustained response can only be measured with long follow-up, and long follow-up is expensive, so many trials skip it. The absence of sustained-response data isn't proof a treatment fails to last. It often just means no one studied it long enough.