Kc. Burke et al., MEDICAL-SERVICES USE BY PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER DETOXIFICATION FROMBENZODIAZEPINE DEPENDENCE, Psychiatric services, 46(2), 1995, pp. 157-160
Objective: The authors examined use of medical and mental health servi
ces before and after detoxification among a group of patients detoxifi
ed from benzodiazepines to see if the data suggested a reduction in se
rvice use and costs after detoxification, the so-called offset effect
observed for treatment of alcohol and mental disorders. Methods: Throu
gh a medical record review information was collected about medical ser
vice use for patients aged 40 and older who were detoxified from benzo
diazepines at Scott and White Clinic and Hospital between 1987 and 199
1. Results: Among the 76 patients, medical and mental health outpatien
t visits fell from an average rate of 25.4 visits per year before deto
xification to 4.4 per year after detoxification. Fm the 44 patients wi
th at least one inpatient stay besides the admission for detoxificatio
n, the mean number of inpatient days remained constant at three days p
er year before and after detoxification. Conclusions: Although a retro
spective record review suffers from a range of limitations, the findin
gs suggest that detoxification from benzodiazepines may be effective i
n reducing use of outpatient medical and mental health services and pr
esumably in reducing costs of care.