Alcohol is widely consumed across several cultures mainly because of its brain depressant effect. Regardless of its fatal consequences such as the mortality and morbidity, approximately 90 percent adults in the United States have had some experience with alcohol whereas many of them have experienced severe life events such as getting into any accident or missing an exam because of consuming a high amount of alcohol (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). As compared to alcohol dependence which revolves around heavy consumption of alcohol (approximately 5 or more drinks per day), alcohol abuse is a less severe condition where daily routine activities are adversely effected (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In this regard, while analyzing the detrimental consequences of Alcohol related disorders, it is important to help such individuals get rid of this addiction in order to live a serene life. For this purpose, the outpatient and inpatient treatment options are available for sufferers needing alcohol treatment. Regardless of the number of treatment options available for the recovery of alcoholics, there is been a long debate on the preference of one treatment option over the other.
Despite the previous confusion about treating patients suffering from alcohol dependence where outpatient treatment was given more preference, the recent studies have produced in depth analysis on comparing the outpatient and inpatient care. Although, it is best decided by the clinical practitioner, inpatient care is referred to as residential care where patients are provided with greater hours of treatment, along with a safer environment that keeps him away from the stressors that triggers the desire for alcohol. On the other hand, outpatient care gives an extra space to the patient who does only undergo treatment via family counseling and support networks, but can also carry out other work and education related routine tasks. In order to assess the difference between inpatient and outpatient care for alcohol dependence, Pettinati et al. (1999) conducted a research based on the participants from a psychiatric hospital in New Jersey; Carrier Foundation. The study revealed inpatient care to be more advantageous because of the resulting improved conditions of alcohol dependence cases as compared to the treatment provided by outpatient programs. Although, the finding presented by Pettinati et al. (1999) contrasts the previous studies which preferred outpatient programs mainly because of its low cost, Pettinati et al. (1999) fosters the idea of Holder et al. (1991) which propagate a negative relationship between the total alcohol treatment cost and its effectiveness. The research conducted by Pettinati et al. (1999) discovered no major differences between inpatient and outpatients on the basis of gender, race, education level and age but it found that as compared to the outpatients, inpatients belonged to a lower socio-economic background. This might be important to highlight considering the fact that inpatient program is more costly than outpatient. However, since the condition of the patients after 3 months of treatment was analyzed to find out the effect of the treatment care, it was conspicuous that inpatient care was more effective thereby hinting at its efficiency in long term care. Since patients usually resort back to alcohol consumption after being treated especially at an outpatient program, care was taken in measuring the alcohol status and treatment efficiency by scrutinizing the behavior of returning to alcohol intake along with assessing the severe behaviors arising from the intake and the duration for which the patient was required to admit to a treatment program. The findings of the study coherently display that as compared to the outpatients, there were fewer inpatients who returned back to alcohol dependence after being treated (Pettinati et al., 1999).
Therefore, examining the greater number of treatment hours at inpatient programs and the lesser number of patients who resort back to drinking after attending the inpatient care, it was found that inpatient care was not only a better treatment option for patients suffering from alcohol dependence, but it was also more cost effective as compared to the outpatient care where individuals did not only drop out in the middle of the treatment but were also seen to return back to drinking. Hence, while looking at the various risks associated with alcohol dependence, patients should be provided proper care in order to completely recover in the best possible way.
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Holder, H., Longabaugh, R., Miller, W, R., & Rubonis, A. V. (1991). The cost effectiveness of treatment for alcoholism. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 52, 517–540.
Pettinati, H. M., Meyers, K., Evans, B. D., Ruetsch, C. R., Kaplan, F. N., Jensen, J. M., & Hadley, T. R. (1999). Inpatient alcohol treatment in a private healthcare setting: Which patients benefit and at what cost? The American Journal on Addictions, 8, 220-233.
