Effectiveness of Long‐Term Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for Women: Findings from Three National Studies

Abstract

The effectiveness of residential substance abuse treatment for women was examined using data from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's Residential Women and Children/Pregnant and Postpartum Women (RWC/PPW) Cross-Site Study and two other recent national studies. Treatment success was defined as posttreatment abstinence from further drug or alcohol use, measured through in-person follow-up interviews conducted 6-12 months after each client's discharge. Despite differences in treatment programs, client profiles, follow-up intervals, data collection methods, and other factors, all three studies found high treatment success rates--ranging narrowly from 68% to 71% abstinent--among women who spent six months or more in treatment. Success rates were lower, and between-study differences were larger, for clients with shorter stays in treatment. Controlling for salient client and treatment project characteristics, strong associations between length of stay in treatment and posttreatment abstinence rate were found in all three studies, suggesting that women's length of stay in residential treatment is a major determinant of treatment effectiveness. In further analysis of RWC/PPW data, treatment completion was also found to be an important outcome factor. Among clients who remained in treatment for at least three months, those who achieved their treatment goals in three to five months abstinence outcomes were as good as those for clients who took more than six months to complete their treatment (76%-78% abstinent) and substantially better than those for clients who did not complete treatment (51%-52% abstinent). Notably, however, most of the RWC/PPW clients who successfully completed treatment (71%) required six months or more to do so.

Relación entre la comorbilidad psicopatológica y las variables de resultados en dependientes de cocaína tratados en comunidad terapéutica

“…Todavía hoy, existe controversia sobre cómo valorar el éxito terapéu-tico en una CT. La mayoría de los autores están de acuerdo en considerar el tiempo de estancia como un indicador válido de resultados, siendo tres meses el tiempo medio estimulado para que el paciente pueda presentar una mejoría clínicamente relevante (Condelli y Hubbard, 1994;Greenfield, Burgdorf, Chen, Porowsk, Roberts y Herrell, 2004;Vergara-Moragues, 2010). Otros estudios longitudinales indican que algunas variables relacionadas con el paciente tienen un valor predictivo limitado sobre los resultados de tratamiento, al explicar un porcentaje de la varianza relativamente bajo de éstos (Condelli, 1994;Secades y Fernández, 2000).…”

Alcoholism: Success of Long–Term Treatment - a Systematic Review

“…The results showed that the abstinence rate was 76%-78% for three months and achieved their treatment goals in three to five months abstinence. The abstinence rate for patients who did not complete the treatment was 51%-52% (17).…”

“…Greenfield, Burgdorf, Chen, Porowski, Roberts, Herrell (17) in 2004 examined the abstinence rate of women involved in residential substance abuse treatment. The results showed that the abstinence rate was 76%-78% for three months and achieved their treatment goals in three to five months abstinence.…”

Longer Length of Stay Is Not Associated with Better Outcomes in VHA’s Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs

“…[4][5][6][7][8] Several observational studies have found longer stays in residential programs to improve outcomes in women. 9,10 In more recent randomized trials, longer stays have been associated with either no benefits or only beneficial effects on some of several outcomes. Witbrodt et al found that longer length of residential and day hospital addiction treatment up to 2 months, but not beyond, was associated with greater likelihood of abstinence at follow-up.…”