Evaluation of drug-abuse treatment based on the continuous quality improvement concept

At least 1.2 million Thai people are now addicted to drugs and more varied dangerous substances are entering Thailand. The objective of this study was to evaluate drug-abuse treatment based on the continuous quality improvement concept. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using a questionnaire developed with the reliability of 0.8842. Respondents included 188 hospital directors from drug-abuse clinics situated all over the country, 33 service-providers and 305 clients, attending 3 governmental drug-abuse clinics and 1 private clinic in Bangkok. The results showed a high response rate, 77.1-100.0 per cent. The clients' satisfaction level was high and significantly associated with clinic visits, the expected outcome of stopping alcohol-drinking and completion of six-week detoxification treatment without significant association with stopping drug-use. The significant variables associated with clients' satisfaction were: clean and pleasant environment of the clinics, warm welcome to everybody, listening to clients without signs of being bored, difficult problems that occurring should be solved immediately and properly, clients' parents and relatives should receive appropriate counseling, and clients' co-illnesses should be also treated. Hospital directors and service providers' opinions on CQI-based drug-abuse treatment were not significantly different. The study raised quality awareness and further action on CQI was recommended for effective and efficient drug-abuse treatment.