Relationships between patient characteristics and unsuccessful substance abuse detoxification

History and laboratory evaluations are common for patients entering substance abuse detoxification programs. We sought to identify if patient history and laboratory characteristics entering a detoxification program were associated with unsuccessful detoxification.

Retrospective cohort study of 186 patients of a residential-inpatient short-term medical detoxification facility. Unsuccessful detoxification was defined as leaving for urgent medical referral or against program advice.

Patients were predominantly male, middle-aged, minority, unemployed, and poly-substance users. Twenty-four patients (13%) did not complete the detoxification program (4 left for urgent medical referral, 20 left against program advice). Unsuccessful detoxification was associated with nausea and/or vomiting (p = 0.032), Caucasian race (p = 0.002), and opiates as a drug of choice (p = 0.018). Laboratory abnormalities were common but none were associated with unsuccessful detoxification.

For patients admitted to a medically monitored detoxification facility, few patient characteristics were associated with detoxification outcome. Routine admission laboratories without clinical correlation may be unwarranted.