How effective is continuing care for substance use disorders? A meta-analytic review.

Given the often chronic nature of substance use disorders, patients sometimes receive less intensive continuing care following an initial period of more intensive treatment. This meta-analysis estimated the effect of continuing care and formally tested several proposed moderators (intervention duration, intensity, modality, and setting) of that effect. A systematic search identified 33 controlled trials of continuing care; 19 included a no/minimal treatment condition and were analyzed to assess the overall effect of continuing care versus control.

Meta-analysis of naltrexone and acamprosate for treating alcohol use disorders: when are these medications most helpful?

Aims: Although debates over the efficacy of oral naltrexone and acamprosate in treating alcohol use disorders tend to focus on their global efficacy relative to placebo or their efficacy relative to each other, the underlying reality may be more nuanced. This meta-analysis examined when naltrexone and acamprosate are most helpful by testing: (i) the relative efficacy of each medication given its presumed mechanism of action (reducing heavy drinking versus fostering abstinence) and (ii) whether different ways of implementing each medication (required abstinence before treatment, detoxification before treatment, goal of treatment, length of treatment, dosage) moderate its effects.

Methods: A systematic literature search identified 64 randomized, placebo-controlled, English-language clinical trials completed between 1970 and 2009 focused on acamprosate or naltrexone.

Motivational interview improves treatment entry in homeless veterans.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) has successfully been used to facilitate entry and compliance in drug and alcohol treatment programs. Some questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of MI in severely distressed populations. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of MI in a population of homeless, unemployed, and substance dependent veterans who are being wait-listed for entry into a residential treatment program.

Problem-free drinking over 16 years among individuals with alcohol use disorders.

Background: Limited data exist on the rates and long-term stability of non-problem drinking in individuals who sought help for an alcohol use disorder.

Methods: A sample of initially untreated individuals with alcohol use disorders (n=420) was surveyed at baseline and 1 year and was re-assessed at 8 and 16 years.

Results: In the 6 months prior to the 1-year assessment, 36% (n=152) of participants reported abstinence from alcohol, 48% (n=200) reported drinking with problems, and 16% (n=68) reported non-problem drinking.

Mesa Grande: a methodological analysis of clinical trials of treatments for alcohol use disorders.

Aim: A 3-year update with 59 new controlled trials is provided for the ongoing Mesa Grande project reviewing clinical trials of treatments for alcohol use disorders. The project summarizes the current evidence for various treatment approaches, weighting findings differentially according to the methodological strength of each study.

Design: The review includes 361 controlled studies that (1) evaluated at least one treatment for alcohol use disorders, (2) compared it with an alternative condition (such as a control group, a placebo, a brief intervention or an alternative treatment), (3) used a procedure designed to create equivalent groups before treatment and (4) reported at least one outcome measure of drinking or alcohol-related consequences.