HOME DETOXIFICATION FROM ALCOHOL: ITS SAFETY AND EFFICACY IN COMPARISON WITH INPATIENT CARE

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Abstract
The safety and short-term effectiveness of home detoxification (HD) was investigated by contrasting rates of treatment completion and of complications of 41 service users with those of a retrospectively matched inpatient comparison group. The latter comprised patients of a detoxification unit matched for age, sex and degree of alcohol dependence with HD subjects. HD subjects had severe problems with alcohol—they averaged 28.7 on the SADQ, 4.6 serious alcohol-related problems in the previous 2 months, a GGT of 123.8 and 174.6 reported units of alcohol consumed in the week before treatment. A high follow-up rate was achieved for both HD subjects and their relatives; there was close agreement between clients' reports, carers' reports and breathalyser readings with regard to further alcohol consumption. The HD subjects were visited at home an average of 6 9 times over 6.15 days. Chlormethiazole was prescribed in 36 cases at an average maximum daily dose of 6.3 capsules — significantly fewer than for the inpatient group. Both rates of completion and complication were virtually identical in the 2 groups. It is concluded that these data suggest HD is equivalent in both its safety and immediate efficacy to more expensive inpatient care.

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