OBJECTIVES: There are many evidences of co-morbidity influence on alcohol dependency treatment outcome. We were interested in the question 'Do alcohol dependent patients with different co-occurring mental and medical conditions significantly differ in subjective attributes of well-being and in abstinence rate two years after the end of intensive alcohol dependency treatment'. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 222 ex – patients participated in the research 24 months after the end of intensive alcohol dependency treatment, 74% of them males (mean age = 46.17, SD = 8.79) and 26% females (mean age = 46.35, SD = 8.10). RESULTS: No significant differences were found in any dependent variable regarding any independent variable in presence of any somatic diagnose (yes/no) and personality disorders. Depressive vs. non depressive differed significantly only in the evaluation of important interpersonal relations, while anxious vs. non – anxious and benzodiazepine dependent vs. nondependent significantly differed in all self – evaluations, except in evaluation of important interpersonal relations. No significant differences were found between (non)abstinents regarding any of six categories of mental disorder and medical conditions (yes/no) and no significant differences were found in any self – evaluation regarding the participation in different kinds of after-care. A greater number of patients continued to abstain from alcohol if they continued in aftercare 24 months after the end of intensive treatment. CONCLUSION: Patients with different somatic and mental co-occurring disorders did not differ in abstinence rate. However, membership in after-care 24 months after the end of intensive therapy significantly contributed to the abstinence rate. Abstinence was found to be connected with more positive self-evaluation. Patients with somatic co-occurring diagnoses tended to have more positive self-perceptions than patients with co-occurring mental disorders.PMID: 18587290 [PubMed – in process]
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