Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Fifty urban American Indians were interviewed during admission to a free-standing medical detoxification unit. From the year before the interview through 2 years of follow-up, this sample averaged 44.6 detoxification admissions and 64.1 days in other inpatient treatment and had no significant change in the number of annual detoxification admissions. At follow-up all but three subjects reported recent alcohol dependence symptoms or episodic alcohol abuse. these patients continued to experience serious alcohol-related problems despite repeated treatment in both medical detoxification and inpatient rehabilitation settings. These findings emphasize the need for more innovative and effective alternatives to the existing revolving door process.
Kivlahan et al. (Sun,) studied this question.