Treatment outcome of cocaine-alcohol dependent patients

Cocaine dependent patients ( n =27) with and without concurrent alcohol dependence disorder were compared on measures of substance use, addiction severity (ASI), coping, and psychopathology taken before, during, and after outpatient relapse prevention treatment for cocaine dependence. At pre-treatment, the cocaine–alcohol (CA) group reported more frequent alcohol use, and more severe alcohol and family/social problems compared to the cocaine-only (CO) group. By the end of treatment, both groups reported significantly fewer days of alcohol and cocaine use, with sustained reductions observed at 24 weeks following treatment. On most of the addiction severity and psychiatric symptomatology scales, results indicated overall improvement as a function of time, however scores remained relatively `worse' in the CA group. Implications of these findings and the need for specific programming in the treatment of dual drug use are explored.