TY - JOUR
T1 - Addiction treatment history, medical services utilization, and cost
T2 - A longitudinal analysis of problem drinkers
AU - Alexandre, Pierre Kébreau
AU - French, Michael T.
AU - Matzger, Helen
AU - Weisner, Constance
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial assistance for this study was provided by four grants from the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), K01 AA13608, R01 AA13167, R01 AA09750, and P50 AA05595. The authors acknowledge Lee Kaskutus for technical suggestions, William Russell, Joseph Fede, and Marsha Mullings for administrative and editorial support. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Venice Workshop organized by the International Center for Mental Health Policy and Economics (ICMPE), Milan, Italy.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Few studies have examined the long-term patterns of health services utilization and cost for alcohol use disorders. This paper used data from baseline, 3-year, and 5-year follow-up interviews to compare utilization and cost of medical care services for problem drinkers who received chemical dependence treatment and those who did not. The analysis examined overnight hospital stays, emergency room visits, and medical office visits. The unadjusted analysis indicates that in the year immediately preceding each follow-up period, a significantly higher percentage of the chemical dependency treatment group stayed overnight at a hospital or used ER services. In terms of medical office visits, a significantly lower percentage of the treatment sample had office visits at the 5-year follow-up, hut otherwise no significant differences existed. Most of the significant differences between the two groups vanished when we controlled forcovariates. Researchers, policy makers, and clinicians could benefit from such information to develop alternative delivery models, formulate research initiatives, and determine areas for potential intervention and improvement.
AB - Few studies have examined the long-term patterns of health services utilization and cost for alcohol use disorders. This paper used data from baseline, 3-year, and 5-year follow-up interviews to compare utilization and cost of medical care services for problem drinkers who received chemical dependence treatment and those who did not. The analysis examined overnight hospital stays, emergency room visits, and medical office visits. The unadjusted analysis indicates that in the year immediately preceding each follow-up period, a significantly higher percentage of the chemical dependency treatment group stayed overnight at a hospital or used ER services. In terms of medical office visits, a significantly lower percentage of the treatment sample had office visits at the 5-year follow-up, hut otherwise no significant differences existed. Most of the significant differences between the two groups vanished when we controlled forcovariates. Researchers, policy makers, and clinicians could benefit from such information to develop alternative delivery models, formulate research initiatives, and determine areas for potential intervention and improvement.
KW - Cost
KW - Health services utilization
KW - Longitudinal analysis
KW - Problem drinkers
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U2 - 10.1300/J069v25n01_13
DO - 10.1300/J069v25n01_13
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16597578
AN - SCOPUS:33646347613
VL - 25
SP - 105
EP - 120
JO - Journal of Addictive Diseases
JF - Journal of Addictive Diseases
SN - 1055-0887
IS - 1
ER -