Outcomes of Co‐Morbid Alcoholic Men: A 1‐Year Follow‐Up

Abstract

In this prospective, 1-year study, 360 males admitted to an inpatient alcoholism treatment program were administered a DSM-III compatible structured interview and subtyped by co-occurring psychiatric disorder. Forty percent satisfied diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence while 27% met criteria for alcohol dependence and one additional psychiatric syndrome. The dually diagnosed patients were divided into: alcohol dependence plus drug abuse, alcohol dependence plus antisocial personality and alcohol dependence plus depression. These subtypes were compared on multiple dimensions at intake and at 1-year follow-up. At follow-up, all groups showed significant improvement in drinking and psychosocial functioning. The results suggest that subtyping alcoholics by co-morbid psychiatric disorders may be a good postdictor of clinical history, but a poor predictor of drinking outcome.

Do Premorbid Predictors of Alcohol Dependence Also Predict the Failure to Recover From Alcoholism?

“…The Childhood Deviance Scale correlated signifi cantly with comparable items collected 10 or 20 years earlier, such as the Childhood Conduct Disorder Scale (r = .56, p < .0001) and the School Teacher Questionnaire Behavioral Summary Score (r = .37, p < .0001) (Knop et al, 2009). The Psychosocial Interview also collected extensive data about the quantity and frequency of the consumption of beer, wine, and distilled spirits in the recent past and included the 32-item Alcoholism Severity Scale used in other studies by our group (Penick et al, 1987;Powell et al, 1992) to evaluate the major symptoms of alcoholic drinking both in the past year and over the subject's lifetime.…”

Comparison of induced and independent major depressive disorders in 2,945 alcoholics

“…Others question the overall relevance of subgroups, believing that high levels of psychiatric symptoms are inherent in alcohol-dependent individuals, even when sober (28). Yet other research challenges the belief that affective disturbances of any type are related to the clinical outcome, and there are disagreements about the optimal way to identify and characterize potentially substanceinduced disorders (26,(29)(30)(31).…”

Alcohol, Gender, and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity: A Study from India

“…In one of the Indian studies (26), it was reported that substance use is confined to tribal females, those of lower socio-economic status. Other studies too have reported their patient population as belonging to lower middle and lower class and being employed (17,18). The majority of female patients in the current study belonged to the lower socio-economic class (68%), rural background (62%), and worked as daily wage laborers (64%) either in factories or agricultural fields.…”

“…Mean age at presentation in various studies have ranged between 35 and 46 years (15)(16)(17)(18). Two earlier studies (19,20) usually in their fourth decade of life and later compared to males.…”