Assessment of motivation for treatment in alcohol dependent patients who sought treatment at a specialized medical service

Abstract

Keywords Resumo Descritores artigo originalIntroduction: Motivation is deemed a critical component for interventions intended to change behaviors related to the use of alcohol and other drugs. The classification of patients in 'stages of change' can be a useful tool for the organization and improvement of treating programs. Methods: This study assessed the stages of change using the scales URICA and SOCRATES in patients who attended two different treating programs for alcohol dependence in a specialized medical service. We performed an analysis of the association between stages of change and demographic aspects. After three months of treatment, patients were reassessed to evaluate their outcome. Results: In the assessments using URICA, there was an association between stages of change and monthly income and age. There was no evidence that patients move across the stages of change. Using the scale SOCRATES, we found an association between stages of change and monthly income. In the reassessment, there was a significant movement across the stages of change. Conclusion: Patients who attend two different treating programs may have different motivation profiles. There was no movement congruent with the stage of change model, suggesting that patients may need more than 3 months to obtain significant changes in their motivation.

Factors influencing motivation in alcohol dependence syndrome patients in a tertiary care hospital of Assam

“…Other sociodemographic factors like age, occupation, socioeconomic status and type of family had no association with the level of motivation in the pretreatment period, which is in contrast to previous studies like that of Malbergier et al and D'souza et al 13,15 This may be due to the difference in the sample size between these studies.…”

Motivation to change and factors influencing motivation in alcohol dependence syndrome in a tertiary care hospital

“…[28] Majority of patients in the lower class were in PC stage, and higher income and upper socioeconomic class were associated with better stages of motivation, similar to the findings of a previous study. [29] Promoting involvement in religious activities where applicable and addressing socioeconomic condition of the patients could have a beneficial influence on motivation and treatment seeking.…”

Convergent and discriminant validity of three measures of stage of change.

“…Few studies have attempted to compare the RCQ, URICA or the SOCRATES with algorithm measures of stage of change (Belding et al, 1996; Carey, Purnine, Maisto, & Carey, 2002; Etter & Perneger, 1999; Etter & Sutton, 2002; Farkas et al, 1996) or directly with each other (Addington et al, 1999; de Oliveira Júnior & Malbergier, 2003; Hodgins, 2001; Nochajski & Stasiewicz, 2005). …”