Time series analysis of intervention effects. Fluoxetine therapy as a case illustration

This paper illustrates the advantages of time series analysis in documenting treatment effects through a case study of a trial of fluoxetine in a borderline woman being treated in a long-term inpatient unit for severe personality disorders. Data consisted of weekly self-reports of symptomatology over 58 weeks of hospitalization. Intervention analysis carried out after the patient was discharged documented the effectiveness of the medication and the differential timing of response in individual symptoms.