Does this treatment work? Validation of an outcomes module for alcohol dependence

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of routine care administered to alcohol-dependent inpatients. The authors sought to validate a self-administered instrument that measures the types and extent of care delivered, the outcomes of that care, and casemix characteristics that influence the outcomes of care. Seventy-eight patients who were beginning inpatient treatment for alcohol dependence were recruited; 85% were followed 5 months later to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships to gold standard assessments. The self-administered module demonstrated excellent agreement with structured interview assessments of diagnosis (kappa = .81), remission (kappa = .83), and change in severity of alcohol-related problems (r = .66 to .87). Casemix variables, particularly baseline severity, predicted change in alcohol consumption and functional status. The baseline module required 20 minutes for the average patient and 5 minutes for the average clinician to complete, with less than 2% missing data. Results indicated that the module measures key constructs with sufficient precision to assist clinicians and researchers in characterizing the degree to which routine inpatient care for alcohol dependence "works" in their patient population. The entire module is in the public domain and available free of charge to interested users.