Cocaine abstinence symptomatology and treatment attrition

Premature termination from outpatient cocaine treatment predicts a number o f poor outcomes, including higher rates of relapse and unemployment This st udy attempted to predict dropouts from outpatient cocaine treatment, as wel l as those unable to achieve initial abstinence from cocaine, using two bas eline variables that had previously been shown to predict treatment dropout : a measure of the severity of cocaine abstinence symptomatology using the Cocaine Selective Severity Assessment (CSSA) and the initial urine toxicolo gy. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that those with more intense abstinence symptoms, as measured by the CSSA, were five times more likely to terminate treatment prematurely. when combined with the CSSA, the initial urine did not significantly predict dropouts. The CSSA and the bas eline urine were equal in their ability to predict those who would fail in their initial attempts to achieve abstinence. Implications for treatment ar e discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.