Journal article
Pretreatment dropout as a function of treatment delay and client variables
Addictive behaviors, v 20(1), pp 111-115
01 Jan 1995
PMID: 7785476
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Utilizing a retrospective analysis we examined factors correlated with preintake dropout in patients phoning to make intake appointments for cocaine treatment. Inquiries of 235 individuals calling our outpatient cocaine treatment program over a 7-month period were analyzed for relationships between patient age and gender; residence in the city where the program is located; marital status; referral source; reported problems with alcohol, marijuana, and heroin; reported last use of cocaine or other illicit stimulants; assigned counselor gender; person who made the appointment; days to the intake appointment; and attending the scheduled intake session. Only days to appointment was significantly (Wald = 12.4587, df = 1, p < .05 and χ2 = 17.7, df = 8, p < .05) correlated with attending the scheduled intake session. Appointments scheduled the same day differed significantly (χ2 = 4.3, n = 235, df = 1, p < .05) from appointments scheduled later. This suggests that client and situational variables are not significantly related to initial attendance and enhances the significance of systemic variables that are under a clinic's control, such as appointment delay. The results indicate that the longer the delay between the initial phone contact and the scheduled appointment, the less likely a client is to attend an appointment. Further, they suggest that the greatest decrease in initial attendance occurs in the first 24 hours following the phone inquiry. Taking a “microscopic” look at the appointment delay variable is valuable in understanding and addressing preintake dropout.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Pretreatment dropout as a function of treatment delay and client variables
- Creators
- David S. Festinger - Drexel UniversityR.J. Lamb - Medical College of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Division of Addiction Research and Treatment, Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA, USAMaria R. Kountz - Arcadia UniversityKimberly C. Kirby - Drexel UniversityDouglas Marlowe - Medical College of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Division of Addiction Research and Treatment, Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Publication Details
- Addictive behaviors, v 20(1), pp 111-115
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 5
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:A1995QD90700010
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0028798743
- Other Identifier
- 991021863965804721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Psychology, Clinical
- Substance Abuse