THE SECCAT SURVEY .2. THE ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS QUESTIONNAIRE AS APROXY FOR RESOURCE COSTS AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN ALCOHOLISM-TREATMENT

An interview was obtained with 212 patients who had, at a point 12 mon ths previously, been in contact with an alcohol problems clinic. Quali ty of life (SF-36) was measured and for the preceding 6 months the cos t of health and social service resource use was estimated, together wi th the total abstinent (or controlled drinking) days accrued. Alcohol related health, personal and social problems experienced during that p eriod were elicited using a brief Ii-item questionnaire, the Alcohol R elated Problems Questionnaire (ARPQ). The estimate of costs correlated more strongly with the ARPQ score (r = -0.32, P = 0.0001) than with a bstinent days (r = 0.03, n.s.) or controlled drinking months (r = -0.2 1, P = 0.002). The lack of relation of total abstinent days to cost is partly because abstainers tended to use considerable alcohol problems clinic resources. ARPQ scores indicating more problems were associate d with lower quality of life. The ARPQ can serve as a proxy for resour ce use and quality of life in alcoholism treatment.