The Use of a Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) as an Easy Method to Estimate the Relapse Risk after Alcoholism Detoxification

We tested the use of some subscales of the psychiatric symptom checklist SCL-90-R in predicting relapse within a 1-year follow-up period after a combined detoxification- and abstinence-focused day patient psychotherapy program in 20 men and 13 women with alcohol dependence. Scores of the SCL-90-R subscales interpersonal sensitivity (p = 0.008), anxiety (p = 0.022), phobic anxiety (p = 0.019) and Global Severity Index (GSI; p = 0.040) on admission were higher in the subgroup with relapse within the first year after therapy. A decrease in depression (p = 0.004), anxiety (p = 0.006) and GSI (p = 0.006) scores during therapy was associated with a longer abstinence duration (shorter vs. longer than 24 weeks). Therefore we propose to further investigate the capacity of the SCL-90-R to identify subgroups at higher risk for relapse after detoxification and abstinence therapy in patients with alcohol dependence.