Marc Galanter, William L White, Michael L Dennis, Brooke Hunter, Lora Passetti, Dan Lustig
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The availability of the fellowships of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in community settings is extensive and patients admitted to treatment programs for substance use disorder may therefore have previously attended meetings of these two Twelve Step (TS) programs. Data on such prior attendance and related clinical findings, however, are not typically available. They can, however, be relevant to how ensuing treatment is planned. We therefore undertook this study to ascertain the feasibility of evaluating how the level of TS attendance prior to treatment entry can be evaluated, and to determine clinically relevant findings that are associated with such attendance.
Methods: Over the course of 2022, 3,125 patients were admitted to a large urban multimodal United States-based treatment center. All patients were administered the structured interview-based Global Appraisal of Individual Needs upon admission. This instrument is employed to evaluate substance use, demographics, and related psychosocial variables. Clinically related variables were analyzed relative to whether given respondents have a history of any TS group attendance prior to admission.
Results: Distinctions were found between the 57.3% of respondents who had previously attended any TS meetings and the 42.6% who had not attended any meetings. Compared to respondents who had never attended TS meetings, those who had ever attended scored higher on emotional problems (p <.001, d = -0.58), and had more likely undergone previous SUD treatment (p <.001, d = 0.80). They were less likely to use substances in unsafe situations (p <.001, d = -0.55) and were less likely to express reluctance to remain abstinent (p <.001, d = -0.50). The 11% of respondents who considered themselves regular TS members reported a lower frequency of recent substance use (p <.001, d = -0.80) and were more likely to have attended intensive outpatient (p <.001, 0.46) and residential (p <.001, 0.44) treatment than patients who did not consider themselves regular attenders.
Conclusions: Examination of TS attendance prior to treatment admission is feasible. Findings can be clinically relevant for differential treatment planning and can also serve as a basis for further research into the role of TS participation in community settings.
期刊介绍:
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice provides a forum for clinically relevant research and perspectives that contribute to improving the quality of care for people with unhealthy alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use and addictive behaviours across a spectrum of clinical settings.
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice accepts articles of clinical relevance related to the prevention and treatment of unhealthy alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use across the spectrum of clinical settings. Topics of interest address issues related to the following: the spectrum of unhealthy use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among the range of affected persons (e.g., not limited by age, race/ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation); the array of clinical prevention and treatment practices (from health messages, to identification and early intervention, to more extensive interventions including counseling and pharmacotherapy and other management strategies); and identification and management of medical, psychiatric, social, and other health consequences of substance use.
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice is particularly interested in articles that address how to improve the quality of care for people with unhealthy substance use and related conditions as described in the (US) Institute of Medicine report, Improving the Quality of Healthcare for Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006). Such articles address the quality of care and of health services. Although the journal also welcomes submissions that address these conditions in addiction speciality-treatment settings, the journal is particularly interested in including articles that address unhealthy use outside these settings, including experience with novel models of care and outcomes, and outcomes of research-practice collaborations.
Although Addiction Science & Clinical Practice is generally not an outlet for basic science research, we will accept basic science research manuscripts that have clearly described potential clinical relevance and are accessible to audiences outside a narrow laboratory research field.