Randomised trial of community-based centre versus conventional hospital management in treatment of alcoholism

151 problem drinkers (105 men and 46 women) were recruited from the general medical and psychiatric services of a district general hospital and were allocated randomly to a community-based day centre (ACCEPT) or standard hospital inpatient and outpatient services. 115 patients (79%) were followed up at 12 months. The group as a whole showed improvement in all outcome indices at the 3-month follow-up, and this was maintained at 6 and 12 months. Patients assigned to ACCEPT services claimed to have reduced their alcohol intake (55%) more than their hospital counterparts (37%), and this was confirmed by their informants. Patients referred from the psychiatric services reduced their alcohol intake more than those from general medical services. It is concluded that treatment at a community day centre is at least as cost effective as hospital treatment of alcohol abuse.