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Feasibility and validity of low‐budget telephonic follow‐up interviews in routine outcome monitoring of substance abuse treatment
Author(s) -
Oudejans Suzan C.C.,
Schippers Gerardus M.,
Merkx Maarten J.M.,
Schramade Mark H.,
Koeter Maarten W.J.,
Van Den Brink Wim
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02593.x
Subject(s) - substance abuse treatment , substance abuse , medicine , substance use , psychiatry , illicit drug , psychology , drug
Aims Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) is receiving growing attention. However, follow‐up interviews are time‐consuming and costly. This study examines the feasibility and validity of low‐budget telephonic follow‐up interviews for ROM in a substance abuse treatment centre (SATC). Design Observational study using data collected for routine outcome monitoring. Setting The study was performed in a SATC in an urban area in the Netherlands. Participants Feasibility and validity were assessed on data of 2325 patients. Measurements Data on pre‐treatment socio‐demographic and clinical characteristics were collected using electronic patient records (EPRs) and the European version of the Addiction Severity Index (EuropASI). Data on intensity of treatment were also collected through the EPRs. Telephonic follow‐up interviews were conducted between 9 and 10 months after intake. Findings A 53% follow‐up rate was achieved; 35% of the patients could not be contacted, 3% explicitly refused and in 8% other reasons accounted for non‐participation. About 50% of the interviews took place in the intended time‐frame. Costs were €40 ($57) per completed interview. There were indications of selection bias, because patients with cocaine as their primary problem and patients with polysubstance abuse were under‐represented in the follow‐up sample; the presence of these disorders is associated with negative treatment outcome. Conclusions Implementing telephonic low‐budget follow‐up interviews for ROM is feasible, but selection bias threatens internal validity of data, limiting generalization to the total treatment population. Increased efforts to track patients for follow‐up may improve generalization.