Factors Associated with Substance Use Disorder Treatment Completion, Rhode Island, USA, 2018

Abstract

Introduction

The successful retention of individuals with substance use disorders in treatment remains a challenge but is an important indicator of positive post-treatment outcomes. The aim of this study is to advance understanding of pre-admission factors associated with substance use treatment completion in Rhode Island.

Methods

Data for this longitudinal analysis are from the RI Behavioral Health On-Line Database (RI-BHOLD). The primary outcome of interest was substance use treatment completion defined as any planned discharge from treatment, including transfers to other facilities. Associations were assessed using generalized estimating equations (GEE) to account for the potential of repeated measures for the same individuals.

Results

Among the 7,351 clients discharged from a substance use treatment program in RI in 2018, the treatment completion rate was 58.1%. There was a positive relationship between the frequency of attendance of voluntary self-help groups and odds of treatment completion. Treatment completion rates were lower among those who reported use of opioids (AOR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.52-0.66) and other drugs (AOR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.44-0.62), compared to alcohol and for those with co-occurring mental health conditions (AOR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.76-0.94).

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of social connectedness in substance use disorder treatment completion. Future research is needed to identify the characteristics of persons who are most likely to benefit from self-help groups and the optimal combination of treatment participation and attendance of self-help groups across a spectrum of disorder severity and community resources.

Keywords:

• Substance use disorder
• treatment completion
• social connectedness
• co-occurring mental health
• drug treatment
• alcohol treatment

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Samantha Borden for analytic and manuscript review. The authors would also like to thank Ms. Corrina Roy and Linda Mahoney and Mr. Jamieson Goulet for critical input on the manuscript.

Funding

All authors currently work for BHDDH, which licenses providers. No outside funding was used.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.