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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on May 3, 2005
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2005 40(4):302-307; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh136
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved

EFFECT OF COMMUNITY NURSE FOLLOW-UP WHEN TREATING ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE WITH ACAMPROSATE

I. PELC1,*, C. HANAK1, I. BAERT1, C. HOUTAIN1, P. LEHERT2, F. LANDRON3 and P. VERBANCK1

1 Psychiatry Department, Hôpital Universitaire Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Place A. van Gehuchten 4, 1020 Bruxelles, Belgium, 2 The Faculty of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia and Department of Statistics, FUCAM, Mons, Belgium and 3 Merck SA, 37, rue St Romain, 69379 Lyon Cedex 08, France

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: I. Pelc, Psychiatry Department, Hôpital Universitaire Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Place A. van Gehuchten 4, 1020 Bruxelles, Belgium. Tel.: +32 02 477 27 05; Fax: +32 02 477 35 14; E-mail: isidore.pelc{at}chu-brugmann.be

(Received 6 April 2004; first review notified 9 May 2004; in final revised form 21 December 2004; accepted 22 December 2004)

Aims: To measure the effect of community nurse follow-up on abstinence and retention rates in the outpatient treatment of alcohol-dependent patients treated with acamprosate. Methods: Recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients were prescribed acamprosate for 26 weeks and randomized to either physician-only follow-up, or physician plus regular visits from a community nurse. Drinking behaviour in the next 26 weeks was assessed at monthly visits to non-blind clinicians. Results: The cumulative abstinence duration proportion (CADP) was significantly longer in (P = 0.03) the subjects who had received community nurse support (0.57) than in those who had not (0.39). This might, in part, be an artefact of the higher retention rate among those followed up by the nurse, in that, the method of calculating CADP allocates 100% days of drinking for the month before a failed attendance. Differences favouring nurse in the follow-up were seen for time to first drink, and clinical global impression. Conclusions: For recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients treated with acamprosate, follow-up by a community nurse improves patient retention and probably also improves the 6-month drinking outcome.


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