The use of a sense of coherence test to predict drop-out and mortality after residential treatment of substance abuse

Sixty patients in a random sample of all patients (n=487) referred to six facilities for substance abusers (three rehabilitation and three psychiatrically oriented institutions) were interviewed in 1993 using a test of coping and social integration. One year after admission, the relationship between length of stay and coping (measured using Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Test, SOC), social integration, sex and type of facility was determined. Social integration was measured on a ten-point scale in both normal and substance-abusing cultures. The drop-out rate for women was 43% less than for men. Drop-out rate for abusers with a normal SOC rating was 65% less than for abusers with a lower rating. Degree of social integration and type of facility did not differ significantly. Six years after entry, four men and three women had died (11.7%), all had a low rating on the SOC scale. Being a woman, rating normally on the SOC scale and having a high degree of social integration at entry were significant predictors of survival, both separately and taken together six years after entry, p < .01.