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Alcohol dependence severity determines the course of treatmentā€seeking patients

Authors :
Chie Iwahara
Yasunobu Komoto
Akira Yokoyama
Sachio Matsushita
Mitsuru Kimura
Susumu Higuchi
Atsushi Yoshimura
Tomomi Tohyama
Junichi Yoneda
Hitoshi Maesato
Hiroshi Sakuma
Tsuyoshi Takimura
Yosuke Yumoto
Takeshi Mizukami
Hideki Nakayama
Source :
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 45:2335-2346
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Wiley, 2021.

Abstract

BACKGROUND While accumulating evidence suggests a relation between the severity of alcohol dependence and the risk of its recurrence, the impact of dependence severity on the course of the disorder has not been carefully evaluated. The present study examined the impact of several severity indices of alcohol dependence on the drinking course after inpatient treatment. METHODS This prospective study was conducted over a 12-month period following alcohol treatment at a specialized hospital. A total of 712 consecutively admitted alcohol-dependent patients were targeted for enrollment at the time of their hospitalization, with 637 patients registered and followed. The characteristics and severity of the subjects were assessed using multiple methods at admission, with their course after discharge followed continuously using mailed questionnaires that queried them regarding their drinking behavior. RESULTS Greater severity of dependence, assessed using the number of ICD-10 diagnostic criteria met, was associated with a lower rate of abstinence during the study period (p = 0.035). The rate of abstinence also decreased significantly as the baseline blood gamma-glutamyl transferase value and Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS) score increased (p = 0.031 and p = 0.0002, respectively). In multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses, the group with the most severe ADS scores had a significantly greater risk of relapse to drinking than the group with the least severe scores (HR = 2.67, p = 0.001). Dependence severity also associated with the drinking pattern; participants in both the controlled drinking group and the abstinence group had lower ADS scores at admission and a later age at first drinking (p = 0.001 and p

Details

ISSN :
15300277 and 01456008
Volume :
45
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....d475957b9e8f2edf191e0e26338858a3
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14707