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A Public Dual‐Diagnosis Detoxification Unit: Part III: Short‐Term Efficacy of Treatment
Author(s) -
Wilens Timothy E.,
Saley Paul,
Renner John A.,
O'Keefe Janice
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.1994.tb00234.x
Subject(s) - brief psychiatric rating scale , detoxification (alternative medicine) , psychiatry , dual diagnosis , medicine , alcohol dependence , rating scale , alcohol , psychology , psychosis , substance abuse , alternative medicine , developmental psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , pathology
Despite the frequency of alcohol and drug dependence in mentally ill people, data are not readily available on the detoxification and acute stabilization of psychiatric symptoms in this group. The authors have previously reported on a public dual‐diagnosis treatment model for homeless or homeless‐prone patients. They now report on a pilot prospective study investigating the efficacy of this short‐term treatment in stabilizing psychiatric symptoms. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Clinicians' Global Improvement (CGI) and Severity Scale (CGS) were used to assess treatment stabilization in alcohol‐dependent subjects referred with (n = 12) or without psychiatric disorders (n = 12). The psychiatrically referred group had significantly more psychiatric impairment and symptoms at admission than control subjects, but both groups showed similar progressive improvement in symptoms on hospitalization Days 2, 4, and 6 as assessed by both the BPRS and CGI (23% reduction by Day 6, all Ps < 0.001). These findings indicate that a public dual‐diagnosis detoxification unit appears effective in stabilizing psychiatric symptoms in this group of psychiatrically referred, alcohol‐dependent patients.