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Prognostic Validity of Short‐Term Abstinence in Alcoholism
Author(s) -
Yates William R.,
Reed David A.,
Booth Brenda M.,
Masterson Brian J.,
Brown Keith
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1994.tb00015.x
Subject(s) - abstinence , medicine , term (time) , psychiatry , psychology , quantum mechanics , physics
A demonstrated period of abstinence is often viewed as a good prognostic sign in alcoholism. For example, short‐term abstinence one factor often considered important as a selection criteria for alcoholics who are being evaluated as liver transplant candidates. However, the prognostic validity of short‐term abstinence is unclear. We evaluated the effects of 3 and 6 months of abstinence on readmission rates in a series of 299 alcoholics following discharge from inpatient treatment. Readmission rates were stratified using 3‐factor model of alcoholism severity. This 3‐factor model defined groups with 1‐year readmission rates, ranging from 15.8% to 62.7%. Short‐term abstinence did not have strong effects on readmission rates for the most severe alcoholics, nor did short‐term abstinence produce clinically significant reduction for readmission rates for the least severe alcoholics. We conclude that short‐term abstinence has minimal effect on prognosis for alcoholics with various levels of baseline severity.