Outpatient treatment and outcome of prescription drug abuse

Forty-six consecutive patients who voluntarily sought outpatient treatment for abuse of one or more prescription drugs were studied. Barbiturates, amphetamines, and diazepam were the most common drugs abused. Desired treatments by patients included counseling, medical withdrawal, or medical maintenance with the drug of abuse or a chemically related drug. Twenty-two (47.8%) patients left treatment and relapsed within one month; another eight (17.4%) patients relapsed between one and three months after entering treatment. Only 13 (28.3%) reported abstinence 90 days after entering treatment. This experience suggests that a wide range of medical, social, and psychologic resources are required to treat prescription drug abuse, and that long-term drug abstinence is difficult to achieve with all patients.