Substance-abusing physicians: monitoring and twelve-step-based treatment.
This study was designed to provide an independent evaluation of the oversight and rehabilitation of substance-impaired physicians. Records of 104 physicians who had completed their monitoring period by the New York State Committee on Physicians' Health were selected at random from CPH files. They had been followed for an average of 41.3 months. Practice characteristics and substance use before admission, as well as workplace monitoring, twelve-step attendance, urine toxicologies, and relapse incidence after admission are reported. Significant intercorrelations among these variables were ascertained by logistic regression. The utility of twelve-step-based rehabilitation as part of a treatment plan for sustaining abstinence and averting relapse is discussed.
Galanter
Marc
M
Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, NYU Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. marcgalanter@nyu.edu
Dermatis
Helen
H
Mansky
Peter
P
McIntyre
John
J
Perez-Fuentes
Gabriela
G
D000328:Adult; D003289:Convalescence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012008:Recurrence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data