Predictors of patient entry into alcohol treatment after initial diagnosis

To improve the quality of care for alcohol-related disorders, key transitio ns in the continuum of care, including treatment entry, must be fully under stood. The purpose of this study was to investigate identifiable predictors of patient entry into a substance-use treatment program following the init ial diagnosis of an alcohol-related disorder on a medical or surgical inpat ient unit. An administrative computerized database was used to identify the sample for this study. Inpatient and outpatient records were obtained from the Little Rock VAMC/DHCP Predictors of patient entry into treatment withi n six months of the initial diagnosis of an alcohol related disorder includ ed age younger than than 60 (odds ratio [OR] = 4.6), not married (OR = 1.7) , primary diagnosis of an alcohol-related disorder(OR = 7.7), diagnosis of a comorbid drug (OR = 4.3) or psychiatric disorder (OR = 3.6), diagnosis by a medical as opposed to a surgical specialty (OR = 6.0), and African Ameri can (OR = 1.7).