Issues: Assessing drug and alcohol inpatient withdrawal treatment programs is important, as these represent a first step of treatment among people with alcohol and drug problems. However, there are many ways of measuring outcomes making it difficult for service providers to decide which domains and methods to use. This narrative review aims to clarify frequencies of the domains and methods used to assess withdrawal treatment outcomes. Approach: We reviewed published studies that examined outcomes of inpatient drug and alcohol withdrawal treatment. The types of outcome measures used and the frequency of use were summarised.