Weekly patterns of drug treatment attendance.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined weekly patterns of drug treatment attendance in relation to date of welfare payment receipt and reason for treatment absence.


METHODS
Treatment attendance by Medicaid-eligible pregnant women who were drug dependent was examined by calendar week over a 29-month period.


RESULTS
Time series analyses showed that attendance was lower during week 1 than week 4. Drug use was the most frequently reported reason for treatment absence during week 1 (25%) but was not reported as a reason during week 3.


CONCLUSIONS
Drug-dependent outpatients had increased absences associated with illicit drug use during the first week of the month when welfare payments were received. The generalizability of the findings is unknown.
Svikis
D S
DS
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md., USA. dacecap@aol.com
Pickens
R W
RW
Schweitzer
W
W
Johnson
E
E
Haug
N
N
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012621:Seasons; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States