Psychiatric co-morbidity and aftercare among alcoholics: a prospective study of a nationwide representative sample

• Published in: Addiction
• Main Authors: Tomasson, K, Vaglum, P
• Other Authors: Department of Psychiatry, National University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishers 2009
• Subjects: Adult; Aftercare; Alcoholics Anonymous; Alcoholism; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Norway; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Compliance; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/47755; https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.93342310.x

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field AIMS: 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. DESIGN: 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. MEASUREMENTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.