Patient factors associated with treatment completion in a 12-week inpatient dual diagnosis treatment program

ObjectiveTo identify whether mental health wellbeing, age, gender or recent substance use pattern affected completion rates of a dual diagnosis inpatient program.MethodThis retrospective cohort study reviewed medical records of patients admitted between October 2018 and December 2021 of Westside Lodge, a dual diagnosis inpatient program. Demographic information, mental health screening tool results (BASIS-24) and self-reported substance use data were accessed from the patients' electronic medical records.Results181 admissions were included in the study, of which the majority were male (53.6%). Recently used common substances were alcohol (52%), cannabis (40%) and methamphetamine (43%). None of the factors studied demonstrated any statistically significant effect on the likelihood of program completion.ConclusionThis study found that age, gender, mental health wellbeing and recent substances used were not associated with the likelihood of completing inpatient dual diagnosis treatment though further high-powered studies are required to validate these claims.