Six- and twelve-month abstinence rates in inpatient alcoholics treated with aversion therapy compared with matched inpatients from a treatment registry.

Two hundred forty-nine patients who were treated for alcoholism in an inpatient multimodal treatment program that included aversion therapy were matched post hoc on 17 baseline variables with patients from a national treatment outcome registry. The latter patients received inpatient treatment that emphasized individual and group counseling as the primary therapeutic elements but did not include aversion therapy for alcohol. Six- and 12-month abstinence rates from alcohol and all mood-altering chemicals are reported. The patients treated with aversion therapy for alcohol had higher alcohol abstinence rates at 6 and 12 months (p less than 0.01). The abstinence rates from all mood-altering chemicals were higher in the aversion group at 6 months (p less than 0.05) but not at 12 months. The largest differences between treatment groups in 6-month alcohol abstinence rates were noted for males (p less than 0.001), those over 35 (p less than 0.001), daily drinkers (p less than 0.001), and those with alcohol-related work performance problems (p less than 0.05).