Alcoholics in Treatment – The First Year Is Critical

The common history of alcoholism is one of cure and relapse, repeated many times. A new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical Experimentation and Research has looked at the importance of the first year of treatment. It’s known that alcohol abuse and dependence increases the risk of early death; their death rate is 1.6 to 4.7 times greater than the general population’s. So the researchers studied the death rate in alcoholics under treatment.

Over 600 alcoholics in the San Francisco Bay area who had not received prior treatment were followed for 16 years. During this time, 19% of them died. This death rate was 1.4 times that expected for the general population of the same age and gender. The researchers felt the lower rate tan anticipated was because the alcoholics were caught early and were under treatment in the first year of the study period. This view was supported by the finding that participants who had no drinking-related problems or were in remission at one year were significantly less likely to die in the next 15 years. And enrollees who received over 8 weeks of outpatient treatment or attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for more than 4 months and had no drink-related problems at one year were less likely to die than the others. On the other hand, long-term inpatient treatment was a red flag; more than 3 weeks inpatient care was associated with a higher death rate.

It’s clear that Alcoholics Anonymous and similar organizations perform a great service, and we should support them as much as possible.