Unlinking disability income, substance use and adverse outcomes in dually diagnosed, severely mentally ill outpatients

Am J Addict. 2004 Jul-Sep;13(4):390-7. doi: 10.1080/10550490490483080.

Abstract

The goals of the current study were to determine whether incorporating disability benefit management into combined outpatient psychiatric/addiction treatment was feasible and clinically useful for managing severely mentally ill, substance-abusing patients over time, and then if patients in this program would demonstrate the first-week-of-the-month increased substance abuse and hospitalizations shown in other studies. Forty-four patients were studied for an average of forty weeks, with little treatment or study dropout. There was no evidence in either the schizophrenic/cocaine abuser or the broader diagnostic sample of the cyclic first-of-the-month pattern of substance use and hospitalizations observed in other studies. Findings suggest that combined treatment/benefit management programs are clinically feasible and effective in stabilizing patients and keeping them in treatment.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / diagnosis
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / therapy
  • Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Female
  • Hospitalization / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Insurance Benefits / economics
  • Insurance Benefits / methods*
  • Insurance, Disability* / economics
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis
  • Mental Disorders / therapy*
  • Patient Compliance
  • Patient Dropouts / statistics & numerical data
  • Proxy*
  • Schizophrenia / diagnosis
  • Schizophrenia / therapy
  • Secondary Prevention
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Substance-Related Disorders / diagnosis
  • Substance-Related Disorders / therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome