Methadone Maintenance and the Problem with Alcohol

Abstract

There is a growing concern with the rapid pace of physical and psychosocial deterioration of methadone patients who abuse alcohol. The need for a sample method for determining the extent of the problem, as well as the presence of an alcohol problem in individual patients, led the authors to test the validity of the Michigan Alcoholism Screen Test (MAST) in a small urban methadone maintenance clinic (N= 125). The MAST was administered to every patient by their counselors, and the nursing staff was asked to independently rate each patient according to Keller's definition of alcoholism. The authors compared the patients' MAST scores with the global ratings of the nursing staff. Forty-six percent (n= 58) of the patients scored in the alcoholism range of the MAST questionnaire, while 34% (n= 43) of the patients were diagnosed as alcoholics by the nursing staff. There was 75% (n= 94) agreement between the MAST findings and the nurses' global ratings (p<. 001). The authors suggest that the MAST could be an effective screening tool in the area of alcohol abuse in methadone clinics. Going beyond the data, the authors recommend reexamination by psychiatrists of their peripheral role in the treatment of these difficult and multihandicapped patients.