Purpose: To investigate the ability of case managers, working in ambulatory treatment settings specialized in addiction care, to clinically judge demoralization in substance-dependent patients.
Design And Methods: In a cross-sectional study, clinical judgments of case managers were compared with the patients' scores on the Demoralization Scale, by calculating the sensitivity and specificity scores.
Findings: Case managers identified demoralization in 85% of the cases (sensitivity), the specificity of 62% suggests that demoralization was overestimated by case managers.