Study: Quality of Care During Treatment Impacts Outcomes
Community-based programs that provide addiction treatment and services that specifically meet the needs of the patient have better rates of treatment retention and completion, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly reported Aug. 2.
The "Relationship Between Drug Treatment Services, Retention and Outcomes" study involved 1,939 patients who were in drug-free and residential treatment programs in California between 2000 and 2003. Researchers used data from the California Treatment Outcome Project (CalTop), which evaluates patients at intake, discharge, three months after admission, and nine months after admission.
In examining the relationship between treatment processes and outcomes, the study found that patients who were engaged in and satisfied with their treatment generally stayed longer in treatment or had better treatment outcomes.
"If you assess a client at intake and determine a need for service, and you provide those services to meet those needs, the outcome should be better," said lead researcher Yih-Ing Hser, Ph.D., adjunct professor at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The study further found that patients with severe addiction problems who received more services were more likely to be satisfied with treatment. In addition, better outcomes were found among patients in residential programs compared with those in outpatient drug-free programs.
Based on the study's findings, the researchers recommended that effective intervention strategies incorporate both treatment and other related needs, such as medical, employment, family, and legal problems.
The study's findings are published in the July 2004 issue of Psychiatric Services.
Hser, Y., Evans, E., Huang, D., Anglin, D. (2004) Relationship Between Drug Treatment Services, Retention, and Outcomes. Psychiatric Services, 55(7): 767-774.
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