PREDICTORS OF SUCCESSFUL VS UNSUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF A 12-STEP INPATIENT ALCOHOL REHABILITATION PROGRAM

Comparison of successful vs. unsuccessful outcome at 1-year follow-up for 101 patients treated in a VAMC inpatient alcohol rehabilitation un it, which used a combined 12-step facilitation/relapse prevention trea tment model revealed remarkably few predictors of outcome. However, on e variable (self-reported absence of a mainstream Christian religious preference) strongly predicted poor outcome, whereas absence of a fami ly history of alcoholism or a positive history of combat experience pr edicted a successful outcome. These results are among the first to exa mine the characteristics of patients who do well or poorly in this typ e of program and may, if replicated, begin to provide a basis on which to develop clinical algorithms for patient-treatment matching.