The combined effects of treatment intensity, self-help groups and patient attributes on drinking outcomes.
Better understanding of the diverse factors that predict alcoholism treatment outcomes is essential to improving treatment strategies. Patients accepted for treatment at a multimodality program were interviewed and followed-up at three months and one year after admission. The study tested a set of hypotheses relating to the effects on drinking outcomes of treatment modality, modality matching, treatment retention, aftercare, self-help group participation and patient attributes at admission. Drinking frequency diminished substantially between baseline and the two follow-ups. Outcomes for inpatient were better than for outpatient treatment in bivariate analysis, but outcomes for these modalities were equal after adjusting for the effect of patient-treatment mismatching. Aftercare treatment, time in treatment for outpatients, community 12-Step group participation, and several patient attributes such as motivation for change and psychiatric severity significantly predicted drinking outcomes at one or both follow-ups. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.
Magura
Stephen
S
National Development and Research Institutes, 71 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, USA. magura@ndri.org
Fong
Chunki
C
Staines
Graham L
GL
Cleland
Charles
C
Foote
Jeffrey
J
Rosenblum
Andrew
A
Kosanke
Nicole
N
DeLuca
Alexander
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome