Citation

Worley MJ, Gallop R, Gibbons MBC, Ring‐Kurtz S, Present J, Weiss RD, Crits‐Christoph P. Am. J. Addict. 2008; 17(3): 209-217.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1080/10550490802021994

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the level of additional treatment services obtained by patients enrolled in the NIDA Cocaine Collaborative Study, a multi-center efficacy trial of four treatments for cocaine dependence, and to determine whether these services impact treatment outcome. Cocaine-dependent patients (N = 487) were recruited at five sites and randomly assigned to six months of one of four psychosocial treatments. Assessments were made at baseline, monthly during treatment, and at follow-ups at 9, 12, 15, and 18 months post-randomization. On average, patients received little or no additional treatment services during active treatment (first six months), but the rate of obtaining most services increased during the follow-up phase (month 7 to 18). In general, the treatment groups did not differ in the rates of obtaining non-protocol services. For all treatment groups, patients with greater psychiatric severity received more medical and psychiatric services during active treatment and follow-up. Use of treatment services was unrelated to drug use outcomes during active treatment. However, during the follow-up period, increased use of psychiatric medication, twelve-step attendance, and twelve-step participation was related to less drug use. The results suggest that during uncontrolled follow-up phases, additional non-protocol services may potentially confound the interpretation of treatment group comparisons in drug use outcomes.