Psychiatric co‐m orbidity alcoholics: a prospective representative sam ple and aftercare am ong study of a nationwide

• Published in: Addiction
• Main Authors: Tomasson, Kristin N, Vaglum, Per
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1998
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.93342310.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1360-0443.1998.93342310.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.93342310.x

A bstract A im s. To study prospectively the type and extent of aftercare sought by patients following their admission for alcohol and other substance abuse treatment as a function of psychiatric co‐morbidity . D esign. Prospective cohort study with follow‐up after 16 months . Setting and participants. A nationwide sample of alcoholics discharged from inpatient treatment ( N = 351) in Iceland . M easurem ents. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to assign psychiatric diagnoses at the time of index admission. A questionnaire on the type and number of aftercare attendances was mailed to all participants to obtain information about aftercare . Findings. A combination of attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and professional care was the most common aftercare (49%); while only 8% received no aftercare whatsoever. The mean number of AA attendances was over 24 while it was less than 3 for the various professional appointments. Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia had a lower rate of attendance at AA. Other types of co‐morbidity did not affect AA attendance but did increase rates of professional help‐seeking . C onclusions. Better professional treatment attendance might be gained by integrating AA concepts while AA might benefit from professional input to address the prevalent co‐morbid psychiatric disorders.