Premium
Naltrexone in the treatment of male alcoholics—an effectiveness study in Singapore
Author(s) -
LEE ARTHUR,
TAN SHAWN,
LIM DOMINIC,
WINSLOW R. M.,
WONG K. E.,
ALLEN JOHN,
HALL WAYNE,
PARKER GORDON
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1080/09595230124192
Subject(s) - naltrexone , placebo , craving , medicine , alcohol dependence , randomized controlled trial , alcohol , clinical trial , relapse prevention , narcotic antagonist , anesthesia , psychiatry , addiction , antagonist , alternative medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , receptor , pathology
Naltrexone has been demonstrated in western studies to be a useful pharmacological adjunct within treatment programmes for alcoholic patients. We report the first study of its efficacy and usefulness in an Asian region. This project was designed to allow naltrexone's performance to be assessed under routine clinical conditions but with patients selected on the basis of their being likely to comply. Following in‐patient detoxification, 53 male alcohol‐dependent patients admitted to the Alcohol Treatment Centre at Woodbridge Hospital, Singapore, were enrolled in a 12‐week, placebo‐controlled trial of naltrexone hydrochloride (50 mg/day). Subjects were randomized on a 2:1 basis, with 35 receiving naltrexone and 18 receiving placebo. Analyses identified that a higher percentage of naltrexone patients completed the study (40% vs. 22%). In the study non‐completers, the dropout rate due to drinking relapse was also lower in the naltrexone group (9% vs. 43%). Of the 39 patients for whom drinking status over the trial could be ascertained, fewer naltrexone‐treated patients drank (33% vs. 53%). Alcohol craving scores also showed a selective and distinct reduction in the naltrexone‐treated group. Results suggest that naltrexone may be an effective and safe aid to treatment of alcohol dependent patients in Asian patients, for whom the aims are to reduce alcohol craving and drinking reinstatement, but where compliance is likely to be low.