Comparison of opiate-primary treatment seekers with and without alcohol use disorder

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2010.05.008 Byline: Bryan Hartzler (a), Dennis M. Donovan (a)(b), Zhen Huang (c) Keywords: Opiate treatment; Alcohol misuse; Psychosocial functioning Abstract: Many persons seeking opiate treatment present with complex clinical challenges, which may be exacerbated by alcohol misuse. This report details secondary data analyses aggregating treatment-seeking samples across 10 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network treatment trials to examine alcohol-related characteristics of opiate-primary (OP) clients and compare broad pretreatment characteristics of those with and without an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Analysis of this aggregate OP client sample (n = 1,396) indicated that 38% had comorbid AUD and that a history of alcohol treatment episodes and recent alcohol problems were common. Further, comparisons of OP clients with and without AUD revealed the former were more likely to have had a history of pervasive difficulties in psychosocial functioning. Findings suggest the need for detection of and intervention for alcohol misuse at the outset of opiate treatment and support for the practice of availing medical, psychological, case management, and other support services. Author Affiliation: (a) Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105-4631, USA (b) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA (c) Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA Article History: Received 27 January 2010; Revised 19 April 2010; Accepted 5 May 2010