Objective
Adherence to treatment has been demonstrated to be an important factor for remission
from alcohol dependence. The authors compared therapy and medication adherence for
treatment of alcohol dependence in older adults with adherence in younger adults.
Methods
All subjects were participants in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled efficacy
trial of naltrexone for the treatment of alcohol dependence. All subjects received
a medically-based psychosocial intervention focused on motivating patients to change
and on adherence to treatment. The therapy is nonconfrontational and is delivered
by a nurse-practitioner.
Results
Compared with younger adults, older adults had greater attendance at therapy sessions
and greater adherence to the medication. Age-group was the only pretreatment factor
associated with adherence. The greater adherence in older adults translated to less
relapse than in younger adults
Conclusions
Treatment for alcohol dependence can be effective for older adults. Older adults appear
to respond well to a medically-oriented program that is supportive and individualized.
In fact, findings from this study suggest that older adults can be treated in mixed-age
treatment settings when psychotherapeutic strategies are used that are age-appropriate
and delivered on an individual basis.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 11,
2002
Received in revised form:
February 5,
2002
Received in revised form:
April 2,
2002
Received:
November 21,
2001
Footnotes
This work was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (AA 07517), National Institute of Mental Health (1K08 MH01599-01), and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
