title: Multidimensional alcoholism typologies: could they guide clinical practice? Results from a 3-month prospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current nosological classifications may describe a syndrome of "alcoholism" that is too heterogeneous to produce prognostic models for clinical management. Multidimensional alcoholism typologies (ATs) could represent a valuable paradigm in the search for targeted treatment. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the clinical implications of 3 empirically-validated ATs, focusing on various measures of clinical performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a 3-month naturalistic study in which drinking status, and participation in the clinical protocol and group psychotherapy were recorded and used as indicators of treatment performance. The clinical profiles of the subtypes were also compared and graphically presented. Alcohol-dependent outpatients were classified according to the Cloninger, Lesch, and NETER typologies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that the type II (Cloninger), type IV (Lesch), and sociopathic and addictopathic (NETER) subgroups showed a worse outcome in terms of abstinence rates and clinical healthcare resource use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings point to the need to differentiate multidimensional alcoholism subtypes before planning the clinical management of alcohol use disorders.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Service and Medical Psychology, Santa Maria University Hospital , Lisbon , Portugal.
authors: Samuel
authors: S
authors: Pombo
authors: Nuno Félix
authors: NF
authors: da Costa
authors: Maria Luísa
authors: ML
authors: Figueira
authors: Fátima
authors: F
authors: Ismail
authors: Otto Michael
authors: OM
authors: Lesch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010045:Outpatients; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol dependence; clinical outcomes; multidimensional typologies; subtypes