Predicting Outcomes of Older Adult Alcohol Abusers in a Central Florida Addiction Outpatient Clinic

Predicting Outcomes of Older Adult Alcohol Abusers in a Central Florida Addiction Outpatient Clinic
By:
Published on 2006 by ProQuest

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's (CSAT) Treatment Improvement Protocol Series 26: Substance Abuse Among Older Adults addresses research directions for older adults. Specifically, treatment research initiatives include identifying risk factors associated with the development of a better understanding of the unique characteristics that may indicate specific intervention strategies for the older adult population. One prospective area of study recommended is identifying demographic correlates to substance abuse. This study evaluated the impact of client resources and behaviors on treatment outcomes for alcohol abusers. Specifically, a records review of participants age 50 years or older at discharge from an outpatient addiction setting in central Florida was evaluated regarding its utility in predicting treatment outcomes. Variables including residential status, education level, employment status, prior treatment experience, gender, criminal justice involvement at intake, presence of a psychiatric problem, presence of additional substance of abuse or dependence problem, alcohol use within one month prior to intake, age, marital status, and current tobacco use were evaluated for their inclusion as predictors for both successful and unsuccessful treatment outcomes. Additionally, specific independent variables including gender, criminal justice involvement, prior treatment experience, and presence of a psychiatric problem, were analyzed to statistically determine the individual effectiveness of each variable in predicting successful outcomes. Although the current study failed to identify a functional predictive profile for successful and unsuccessful treatment completion, it introduced a starting point for future research efforts. Descriptive statistics confirmed previous findings in the literature that highlighted the incidence of certain demographic factors for alcohol users. The use of discriminant function analysis as the statistical method to identify group membership resulted in profiles for successful treatment completion and unsuccessful treatment completion and allowed for casewise analysis to explore the utility of the profiles. Secondary research questions supported the findings of the discriminant function analysis, and highlighted variables worth exploring in future studies.

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