Using the EDAC test to monitor abstinence and relapses during outpatient treatment

The main objective of this study is to show the performance of the EDAC test in monitoring alcohol consumption during outpatient treatment. The EDAC is a new approach that uses routine laboratory tests to identify binge drinking as well as chronic drinking. The overall diagnostic performance of the EDAC fluctuates around 80 to 90% for both specificity and sensitivity. Close to two thousand subjects have been tested by the EDAC since the early eighties; 300 of these were patients undergoing treatment at different institutions across the U.S. This article selected five case studies to represent examples of classical drinking behaviors encountered in most outpatient clinics. The first four cases illustrate the use of the EDAC alone and the last case represents the use of the EDAC combined with CDT. These five case studies illustrate the use of the EDAC to detect relapse episodes, to monitor abstinence during outpatient treatment and to recognize a slip early enough to prevent more severe drinking. The use of biomarkers to monitor drinking behavior in alcohol dependent patients is gaining popularity because they provide objective information on a patient's drinking status when used as an adjunct to self-report.