Multidimensional alcoholism typologies: could they guide clinical practice? Results from a 3-month prospective study

Abstract Objective. The current nosological classifications may describe a syndrome of "alcoholism" that is too heterogeneous to produce prognostic models for clinical management. Multidimensional alcoholism typologies (ATs) could represent a valuable paradigm in the search for targeted tr...

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Published in:International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice 2015-06, Vol.19 (2), p.137-147
Main Authors: Pombo, Samuel, da Costa, Nuno Félix, Figueira, Maria Luísa, Ismail, Fátima, Lesch, Otto Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Alcohol dependence
Alcohol-Related Disorders - classification
Alcohol-Related Disorders - therapy
clinical outcomes
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
multidimensional typologies
Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
Outpatients
Prospective Studies
subtypes
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Objective. The current nosological classifications may describe a syndrome of "alcoholism" that is too heterogeneous to produce prognostic models for clinical management. Multidimensional alcoholism typologies (ATs) could represent a valuable paradigm in the search for targeted treatment. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the clinical implications of 3 empirically-validated ATs, focusing on various measures of clinical performance. Method. This was a 3-month naturalistic study in which drinking status, and participation in the clinical protocol and group psychotherapy were recorded and used as indicators of treatment performance. The clinical profiles of the subtypes were also compared and graphically presented. Alcohol-dependent outpatients were classified according to the Cloninger, Lesch, and NETER typologies. Results. The results showed that the type II (Cloninger), type IV (Lesch), and sociopathic and addictopathic (NETER) subgroups showed a worse outcome in terms of abstinence rates and clinical healthcare resource use. Conclusions. Our findings point to the need to differentiate multidimensional alcoholism subtypes before planning the clinical management of alcohol use disorders.
ISSN:1365-1501
1471-1788
DOI:10.3109/13651501.2015.1016972