Drug-free therapeutic community: a ten-year follow-up

Two previous follow-ups of 50 patients at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brentwood Division, West Los Angeles, Residential Treatment Center (RTC), were conducted in 1974 and 1981. This is a 10-year follow-up of the same cohorts conducted in 1984. We were able to locate 11 out of 50 candidates. Of the 11 candidates located, interviews were completed on six candidates. Of the remaining five patients, two are decreased and the other three were unable to be interviewed. Of the six patients that were interviewed, three were drug-free since treatment; one has been drug-free for the last five years. The other two patients had been drug-free approximately six months. It would appear that follow-up studies of this particular group of subjects are very difficult and that the outcome of treatment is difficult to evaluate due to difficulty in locating this group of subjects over a long term.