Study: Healthcare Utilization Rates After Treatment Are Equivalent Among Abstinent and Low-Risk Drinkers

A fascinating new study will add to the small, but growing, treatment literature suggesting that low-risk drinking is a viable option for people receiving treatment for alcohol-use disorders. The paper, published this month in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, measured healthcare utilization rates and associated costs over a 5-year period among clients receiving treatment in a large Northern California healthcare system. The results show that outcomes for abstainers and lower-risk drinkers were equivalent (and far better than the high-risk drinkers), despite the fact that the abstinence-based treatment received by all groups was the same.

According to the authors, "The finding that lower-risk drinkers did not differ from those of abstinent individuals, in inpatient use in particular, even when controlling for patient characteristics, suggests that a health policy perspective may consider benefits of lower-risk drinking."

Here's the abstract via Wiley:

Background

Lower-risk drinking is increasingly being examined as a treatment outcome for some patients following addiction treatment. However, few studies have examined the relationship between drinking status (lower-risk drinking in particular) and healthcare utilization and cost, which has important policy implications.

Methods

Participants were adults with alcohol dependence and/or abuse diagnoses who received outpatient alcohol and other drug treatment in a private, nonprofit integrated healthcare delivery system and had a follow-up interview 6 months after treatment entry (N = 995). Associations between past 30-day drinking status at 6 months (abstinence, lower-risk drinking defined as nonabstinence and no days of 5+ drinking, and heavy drinking defined as 1 or more days of 5+ drinking) and repeated measures of at least 1 emergency department (ED), inpatient or primary care visit, and their costs over 5 years were examined using mixed-effects models. We modeled an interaction between time and drinking status to examine trends in utilization and costs over time by drinking group.

Results

Heavy drinkers and lower-risk drinkers were not significantly different from the abstainers in their cost or utilization at time 0 (i.e., 6 months postintake). Heavy drinkers had increasing odds of inpatient (p < 0.01) and ED (p < 0.05) utilization over 5 years compared with abstainers. Lower-risk drinkers and abstainers did not significantly differ in their service use in any category over time. No differences were found in changes in primary care use among the 3 groups over time. The cost analyses paralleled the utilization results. Heavy drinkers had increasing ED (p < 0.05) and inpatient (p < 0.001) costs compared with the abstainers; primary care costs did not significantly differ. Lower-risk drinkers did not have significantly different medical costs compared with those who were abstinent over 5 years. However, post hoc analyses found lower-risk drinkers and heavy drinkers to not significantly differ in their ED use or costs over time.

Conclusions

Performance measures for treatment settings that consider treatment outcomes may need to take into account both abstinence and reduction to nonheavy drinking. Future research should examine whether results are replicated in harm reduction treatment, or whether such outcomes are found only in abstinence-based treatment.

Figure 1 shows Adjusted odds ratios of utilization by 6-month drinking group over time:

Figure 2 shows Adjusted average costs per member month by 6-month drinking group over time:

                                               






As mentioned above, these are the results from patients who attended abstinence-based treatment. It will be
interesting to see if these results are replicated among patients who are instructed on low-risk drinking. What experience do readers have with this issue? Do results like these make those directing abstinence-based programs think twice about the policy? It would be great to hear from you.

Hat tip: Thanks, Dr Reid Hester, for bringing this study to our attention.

Source: Kline‐Simon, A. H., Weisner, C. M., Parthasarathy, S., Falk, D. E., Litten, R. Z., & Mertens, J. R. (2013). Five‐Year Healthcare Utilization and Costs Among Lower‐Risk Drinkers Following Alcohol Treatment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.12273/abstract