Different Goals, Different Needs: The Effects of Telephone- and Text Message-Based Continuing Care for Patients with Different Drinking Goals After Residential Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder.

Graser, Yolanda; Stutz, Sonja; Rösner, Susanne; Wopfner, Alexander; Moggi, Franz; Soravia, Leila M (2022). Different Goals, Different Needs: The Effects of Telephone- and Text Message-Based Continuing Care for Patients with Different Drinking Goals After Residential Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol and alcoholism, 57(6), pp. 734-741. Oxford University Press 10.1093/alcalc/agac031

Full text not available from this repository.

AIMS

Drinking goal has emerged as a promising predictor variable for alcohol-related outcomes. Many patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) choose another drinking goal than abstinence after residential AUD treatment program. We aimed to examine the effects of an abstinent drinking goal (ADG) and conditional abstinence drinking goal (CADG) 6 months after residential treatment on drinking outcomes in patients with severe AUD and investigate the effectiveness of telephone-based (TEL) or text message-based (TEX) continuing care according to the individual drinking goal.

METHODS

A total of 240 patients from two specialized residential treatment programs for AUD were included in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to high-frequency (nine contacts) or low-frequency (two contacts) TEL, TEX (nine contacts), or control group (no contact) from treatment discharge to the 6-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Patients with an ADG were significantly more often abstinent (58%) at the 6-month follow-up compared to patients with a CADG (32.1%), and in the case of relapse, showed a significantly longer time to the first drink. Patients with a CADG of the high-frequency TEL showed a tendency to be more abstinent at the 6-month follow-up and reported significantly higher alcohol-related self-efficacy compared to the CADG patients of the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with CADG are more vulnerable to relapse, and therefore may benefit more from high-frequency telephone contacts to deal with alcohol-related problems and reach their goal. In the case of relapse, the high-frequent contacts may help patients stay connected to health services, preventing chronification and facilitating recovery from AUD.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy > Translational Research Center 04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
UniBE Contributor:	Moggi, Franz (A), Soravia Bachofner, Leila Maria
Subjects:	600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
ISSN:	0735-0414
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Language:	English
Submitter:	Pubmed Import
Date Deposited:	04 Aug 2022 13:44
Last Modified:	29 Mar 2023 23:38
Publisher DOI:	10.1093/alcalc/agac031
PubMed ID:	35909224
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/171689