title: Factors Affecting the Short-Term Prognosis of Alcohol Dependent Patients Undergoing Inpatient Detoxification.
abstract: Stable measures of psychological functioning require a considerable period of abstinence. However, the duration of inpatient detoxification programs has decreased dramatically in most health care systems, posing a novel challenge for clinical evaluation of patients. The present study was carried out to examine whether factors predicting short-term prognosis can be identified in alcohol dependent subjects during early stages of inpatient detoxification. Self-reports of mood states were obtained, and executive cognitive functioning was examined. Outcome was studied at 2-3 months. No correlation was found between self-reported symptoms of depression, hopelessness, and anxiety, and percentage of nondrinking days. A significant positive correlation was found between Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performance and short-term prognosis measured by this parameter. Thus, in addition to transient withdrawal-related effects, impairments of WCST performance in early stages of alcohol detoxification may reflect more long standing deficits in problem-solving strategies, of possible relevance for matching patients to treatment services.
authors.affiliation: Addiction Centre South, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden. Steve.Wicks@bcs.sso.sll.se
authors.forename: S.
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wicks
authors.forename: J.
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hammar
authors.forename: M.
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heilig
authors.forename: O.
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wisén