Human Services News

From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News:

A long-term follow-up study of addiction-treatment graduates found that those who stayed sober a year after treatment were much more likely to be alive 15 years later than those who reverted to drinking, Reuters reported Sept. 25.

Researchers led by Christine Timko of the Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Menlo Park, Calif., tracked 628 people who entered addiction treatment, checking on them a year after completing the program and again 15 years later.

Patients who had spent three weeks or longer in inpatient care were more likely to have died, probably because they had more serious drinking problems to begin with, Timko said.

The study was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

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