Co-occurring mental and somatic diagnoses of alcohol dependent patients in relation to long-term aftercare alcohol abstinence and well-being.
OBJECTIVE
There are many evidences of co-morbidity influence on alcohol dependency treatment outcome. We were interested in the question 'Do alcohol dependent patients with different co-occurring mental and medical conditions significantly differ in subjective attributes of well-being and in abstinence rate two years after the end of intensive alcohol dependency treatment'.


METHODS
222 ex - patients participated in the research 24 months after the end of intensive alcohol dependency treatment, 74% of them males (mean age = 46.17, SD = 8.79) and 26% females (mean age = 46.35, SD = 8.10).


RESULTS
No significant differences were found in any dependent variable regarding any independent variable in "presence of any somatic diagnose" (yes/no) and "personality disorders". "Depressive vs. non depressive" differed significantly only in the evaluation of important interpersonal relations, while "anxious vs. non - anxious" and "benzodiazepine dependent vs. nondependent" significantly differed in all self - evaluations, except in evaluation of important interpersonal relations. No significant differences were found between (non)abstinents regarding any of six categories of mental disorder and medical conditions (yes/no) and no significant differences were found in any self - evaluation regarding the participation in different kinds of after-care. A greater number of patients continued to abstain from alcohol if they continued in aftercare 24 months after the end of intensive treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with different somatic and mental co-occurring disorders did not differ in abstinence rate. However, membership in after-care 24 months after the end of intensive therapy significantly contributed to the abstinence rate. Abstinence was found to be connected with more positive self-evaluation. Patients with somatic co-occurring diagnoses tended to have more positive self-perceptions than patients with co-occurring mental disorders.
Rus-Makovec
Maja
M
Centre for Alcohol dependency Treatment, University Psychiatric Hospital Ljubljana, Poljanski nasip 58, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. maja.rus@psih-klinika.si
Cebasek-Travnik
Zdenka
Z
D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology*
D001569:Benzodiazepines