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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on May 3, 2005
Alcohol and Alcoholism, 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
Received April 6, 2004
Revised December 21, 2004
Accepted December 22, 2004

Article

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

I. PELC 1*, C. HANAK 1, I. BAERT 1, C. HOUTAIN 1, P. LEHERT 2, F. LANDRON 3, and P. VERBANCK 1

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; Department of Statistics, FUCAM, Mons, Belgium
3 Merck SA, 37, rue St Romain, 69379 Lyon Cedex 08, France

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
I. PELC, E-mail: isidore.pelc{at}chu-brugmann.be


  Abstract

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 alcoholdependent 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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