Efficacy of a three- versus a five-week alcohol treatment program.
Eighty-six male alcoholic inpatients were randomly assigned to comparable 3- or 5-week treatment progrrams. Psychometric testing at the beginning and the end of treatment was supplemented by follow-up data 6 months after discharge. While both the 3- and 5-week groups demonstrated significant improvement on both MMPI and follow-up data, few differences between the groups were revealed. The comparable results obtained offer little justification for prolonging inpatient treatment beyond 3 weeks. It is suggested that the inpatient phase of alcohol treatment be brief and oriented to developing a well-structured extended outpatient program.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D010556:Personality Tests