Gambling Disorder: Exploring Pre-treatment and In-treatment Dropout Predictors. A UK Study.
The aim of this study was to identify predictors of treatment dropout in a sample of gamblers attending a specialist clinic for gambling disorder. We analysed data on 846 treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Firstly, we investigated differences in socio-demographic and clinical variables between treatment completers and pre-treatment dropouts, as well as between treatment completers and during-treatment dropouts. Subsequently, variables were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model to identify significant predictors of pre-treatment and in-treatment dropout. Overall, 44.8% of clients did not complete the treatment: 27.4% dropped out before starting it, while 17.4% dropped out during the treatment. Younger age and use of drugs were associated with pre-treatment dropout, while family history of gambling disorder, a lower PGSI score, and being a smoker were related with in-treatment dropout. Our findings suggest that pre-treatment dropouts differ from in-treatment dropouts, and, thus, further research will benefit from considering these groups separately. In addition, this newly gained knowledge will also be helpful in increasing treatment retention in specific subgroups of problem gamblers.
NPGC, National Problem Gambling Clinic, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. silvia.ronzitti@yale.edu.|Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy. silvia.ronzitti@yale.edu.|Yale University, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT, USA. silvia.ronzitti@yale.edu.
Silvia
S
Ronzitti
Methodology and Statistics Laboratory (LABStat), Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland.
Emiliano
E
Soldini
NPGC, National Problem Gambling Clinic, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Neil
N
Smith
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.|Department of Mental Health, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
Massimo
M
Clerici
NPGC, National Problem Gambling Clinic, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.|Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Henrietta
H
Bowden-Jones
D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom
Dropout predictors; Gambling disorder; Pathological gambling; Treatment dropout; Treatment outcome