title: The impact of an outpatient program for women with substance use-related disorders on retention.
abstract: Meeting the needs of women manifesting substance-use disorders is a goal in developing treatment programs for this population. As retention in treatment is positively related to treatment outcome, the length of stay in outpatient treatment of alcohol- and other drug-dependent women in Brazil was compared between two programs. Data were analyzed from 181 women entering a Mixed-Gender Program from 1986 to 1996 and from 80 women entering a Women-Only Program from 1997 to 1998. A greater 3-month retention rate was observed in the Women-Only as opposed to the Mixed-Gender Program. Moreover, the impact was more significant among the alcohol-dependent women. This finding suggests that the heterogeneity of women with substance-use disorders has to be taken into account when developing appropriate treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Addiction Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. monica.zilberman@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Monica L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zilberman
authors.forename: Hermano
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Arthur G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Nady
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El-Guebaly
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*