Rates of attrition among the membership of Alcoholics Anonymous in Finland.
Anniversary announcements published in the national AA newsletter are used to analyze membership turnover in Finnish AA. Of the total membership with at least 1 year of sobriety, close to 90% continue as sober members for another year. Of those having 1 year of sobriety, about two-thirds survive to the next year. The survival rate of members with between 2 and 5 years of sobriety is about 85%. Among members with more than 5 years of sobriety, the survival rate is above 90%. There are no gender differences in survival rates. The sober membership of AA represents between one-third and one-fifth of general population survey estimates of the number of abstaining former frequent drinkers with concerns about losing control over their drinking behavior.
Mäkelä
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K
Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, Helsinki.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000436:Alcoholics Anonymous; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data