Assessment of an abstinence-oriented, outpatient drug addiction service in Greece.
The 'Athena' service is an abstinence-oriented, outpatient substance addiction unit in Greece. To appraise the operation of the service, 459 clients who contacted the unit during a 3-yr. period were assessed in terms of treatment retention and situation upon discharge from the program; 182 of them had four or more appointments with the service and were thoroughly assessed using a battery of measures pertaining to their situation at discharge and their patterns of abuse and related problems. Most help-seekers were single, unemployed, young men who regularly used heroin (89%) intravenously (35%). From those who got involved in the therapeutic process (40%), 72% had positively modified their drug abuse by the time of discharge from the program (mean duration of treatment: approx. three months); the largest improvement (42%) was recorded in their psychological condition. Treatment retention was significantly higher for cannabis abusers than heroin addicts; longer treatment duration was significantly associated with a positive situation at discharge, while higher education was associated with a less favorable outcome regarding the abuse of the principal substance. These findings suggest that such outpatient programs may help a significant number of individuals who get involved in the therapeutic process and should be considered effective for treatment of substance abuse among the diversity of treatment modalities.
Athens University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, 74 Vas. Sofias Ave. 115 28 Athens, Greece. Thomas.Paparrigopoulos@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Thomas
T
Paparrigopoulos
John
J
Liappas
Eleftherios
E
Mellos
Andreas
A
Rabavilas
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires