title: Measuring outcome in the treatment of cocaine abuse: the Drug Impairment Rating Scale for cocaine.
abstract: The Halikas-Crosby Drug Impairment Rating Scale for Cocaine (HAL DIRS-C) is designed to measure the adverse impact of cocaine use upon life functioning over the previous week. The HAL DIRS-C demonstrated excellent split-half and interrater reliability. Internal consistency of the HAL DIRS-C was shown to be high. All items correlated significantly with total score and loaded on a single factor. The HAL DIRS-C correlated significantly with self-reported cocaine use, craving for cocaine, and independent ratings of the severity of addiction. The HAL DIRS-C was found to be sensitive to clinical change across weekly administrations. The scale is brief, easy to administer, and both interviewer and client-friendly. Our results suggest that the HAL DIRS-C may be useful as a standardized measure of improvement or outcome in clinical research involving the treatment of cocaine abuse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UMHC, Minneapolis 55455.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Halikas
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Crosby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine