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Treatment Dropout (treatment + dropout)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Early intervention with difficult to engage, ,high-risk' youth: evaluating an intensive outreach approach in youth mental health

EARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2008
Carsten Schley
Abstract Background: Although intensive outreach (IO) models such as assertive community treatment and intensive case management have a strong evidence base in adult psychiatry, their effectiveness in the early intervention sector is unknown. Aim: To explore client characteristics and treatment effects in a group of difficult to engage, ,high-risk' young people, seen by the Intensive Mobile Youth Outreach Service (IMYOS, ORYGEN Youth Heath) in Western Metropolitan Melbourne. Methods: The clinical files of 47 clients were audited, targeting demographic and treatment outcome data prior to and during IMYOS involvement. Results: Clients typically presented with traumatic childhoods, disrupted education, repeated treatment dropout, poor mental health and ,high-risk' behaviours. Results showed a significant reduction in risk to self and others between referral and discharge, and significantly lower admissions rates and inpatient days compared with the 9 months prior to referral. Conclusions: IO might be an effective early intervention strategy to minimize risk of harm and decrease hospitalization in young people. However, conclusions are provisional as there was no control group included in this study. Further study is required, perhaps with a waiting list control. [source]

Determining socio-demographic predictors of treatment dropout: results in a therapeutic community

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 4 2008
José J. López-Goñi
This article presents a study of a number of socio-demographic factors that predict treatment dropout from a residential substance use disorder programme in Spain (Proyecto Hombre Therapeutic Community). A sample of 430 patients (173 who completed treatment and 257 who dropped out of treatment) was assessed at entry to the therapeutic community programme in order to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics of the participants. According to the results obtained, factors that predicted treatment dropout included younger age, male gender and previous treatment history in the Proyecto Hombre therapeutic community. Patients with these characteristics were at significantly greater risk of dropping out of treatment. The implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are commented upon. [source]

Psychopathology in Pregnant Drug-Dependent Women With and Without Comorbid Alcohol Dependence

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2001
Donna R. Miles
Background : Individuals with comorbid alcohol and drug use disorders are at particularly high risk for a variety of problems, including other psychiatric disorders. In general, patients with comorbid alcohol and drug dependence tend to have more severe dependence problems and often have poorer treatment outcomes than individuals with single disorders. For treatment-seeking pregnant women, psychiatric comorbidity can lead to relapse and premature treatment dropout, with adverse consequences to mother and infant. Methods: Psychopathology, as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,Revised (MMPI-2), was examined in 170 pregnant women admitted to a comprehensive treatment program for cocaine or opiate dependence. Most were single (75%) and African American (80%), with a mean age of 29 years. Thirty-six met DSM-III-R criteria for both alcohol and drug dependence (alcohol positive), whereas 134 were drug dependent only (alcohol negative). Results: Alcohol-positive women had higher levels of psychopathology than alcohol-negative women, with higher scores on scales 2 (Depression), 4 (Psychopathic Deviance), 8 (Schizophrenia), and 0 (Social Introversion;p < 0.05). The mean MMPI-2 profile for alcohol-positive women was 2-4-8 (Depression-Psychopathic Deviance-Schizophrenia; all T-scores > 65), whereas alcohol-negative women had only a scale 4 increase. Conclusions: Results suggest that pregnant, drug-dependent women with comorbid alcohol dependence present for treatment with greater psychopathology and thus may require more intense interventions than pregnant, drug-dependent women without comorbid alcohol dependence. Alcohol use by pregnant women is particularly important to address in treatment, because alcohol is a known teratogen associated with mental retardation and behavioral problems. [source]