Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2009):

Client-reported reasons for non-engagement in drug and alcohol treatment.

Full Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: To examine client-reported reasons for missed early appointments at a drug and alcohol treatment service and to compare characteristics of those who missed appointments with those who attended. DESIGN AND METHODS: Clients who missed a first or second appointment between 1 May and 31 August 2007 at a public community-based outpatient treatment facility were invited to participate in a semistructured telephone interview. This consisted of an open-ended question asking the reason(s) for nonattendance, followed by a questionnaire of items for therapeutic alliance and service satisfaction, perceived impact of substance use and previous treatment experience, mostly rated on Likert scales. Database information on demographic and clinical variables was gathered for all clients who were accepted for treatment within the study time frame. Characteristics of those who missed a first or second appointment (n = 66) were compared with those who attended at least their first two appointments (n = 97). RESULTS: Of clients who missed their appointments, 80.6% provided reasons for nonattendance, which included extraneous factors (50.0%), service shortcomings (29.7%), no further need for service (16.2%) and motivational ambivalence (4.1%). They generally had high ratings of therapeutic alliance and service satisfaction and identified their substance use as having a negative impact on their lives. Clients who missed appointments were more likely to be male, unmarried and have a history of polysubstance use. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Extraneous issues relating to the client may be a dominant obstacle in early treatment engagement. Efforts to overcome these issues may therefore improve early engagement.

Author information

Author/s: Coulson, Carolyn (C); Ng, Felicity (F); Geertsema, Marjan (M); Dodd, Seetal (S); Berk, Michael (M);

Affiliation: Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, Barwon Health, The University of Melbourne, Geelong, Australia. carolco(-atsign-)barwonhealth.org.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Drug and alcohol review (Drug Alcohol Rev), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 28 (issue 4) : pp 372-8

Dates: Created 2009/07/14; Completed 2009/09/24;

PMID: 19594791, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/24/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Alcoholism - rehabilitation Data Collection Female Humans Male Marital Status

Motivation Patient Compliance - psychology Patient Dropouts - psychology Patient Satisfaction Sex Factors Substance Abuse Treatment Centers - statistics & numerical data Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation

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