SOME FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE DROPPING OUT FROM OUTPATIENT ALCOHOLISM-TREATMENT FACILITIES

Even though clients treated in an outpatient setting have been documented to have very high dropout rates, evidences of the factors that influence dropping out are fragmentary and are based on small-scale studies. In our attempt to distinguish such factors, outpatient and intensive outpatient alcoholism admissions for the State of New Jersey were analyzed. Our findings indicated that females, the young and the unskilled are at a higher risk of dropping out. We also documented that drinking status of patients, occupational status, health insurance coverage, educational status, living arrangement, duration of stay in treatment and the number of sessions of service were important factors that influenced the likelihood of dropping out. Controlling for the number of sessions revealed that the relationship between the odds of dropping out and duration in treatment was mixed. Primary drug abusers in our cohort had the highest likelihood of dropping out followed by the dually addicted. It is argued that dropping out is likely to be complicated by the inability of alcoholism treatment facilities to cope with multiple addiction problems.