Six-Month Outcomes for Patients Attending a Substance Abuse Clinic in Hong Kong: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the services offered in the two Substance Abuse Clinics (SACs) in the New Territories East Cluster (NTEC) of Hong Kong. The case notes of 99 patients were reviewed. The Christo Inventory for Substance-Misuse Services (CISS) at intake and six months later were recorded. The CISS total scores were 5.9 ± 2.6 and 4.4 ± 2.3 (t=6.345, p<0.001) at intake and at the six-month follow-up, respectively. The majority of the subjects (64.6%) showed improvement at the six-month followup. They demonstrated significant improvement in psychological status (t=0.5202, p<0.001), drug/alcohol use (t=4.589, p<0.001), general health (t=4.500, p<0.001), degree of criminal activity (t=2.803, p = 0.006) and high-risk behaviour (risky sexual behaviour and/or the use of injectable substances; t=2.755, p=0.007), whereas there was no statistically significant improvement in the areas of social functioning, occupation, working relationships, ongoing support and treatment adherence. The current services provided by the SACs are effective and lead to a better overall outcome, although further improvement is needed in relation to the specific areas of occupation, ongoing support and treatment adherence.