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Review
. 2014 Feb;46(2):87-97.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2013.08.022. Epub 2013 Sep 26.

How effective is continuing care for substance use disorders? A meta-analytic review

Janet C Blodgett  1 , Natalya C Maisel, Ingrid L Fuh, Paula L Wilbourne, John W Finney
Affiliations
Review

How effective is continuing care for substance use disorders? A meta-analytic review

Janet C Blodgett et al. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Given the often chronic nature of substance use disorders, patients sometimes receive less intensive continuing care following an initial period of more intensive treatment. This meta-analysis estimated the effect of continuing care and formally tested several proposed moderators (intervention duration, intensity, modality, and setting) of that effect. A systematic search identified 33 controlled trials of continuing care; 19 included a no/minimal treatment condition and were analyzed to assess the overall effect of continuing care versus control. Continuing care had a small, but significant, positive effect size, both at the end of the continuing care interventions (g=0.187, p<0.001) and at follow-up (g=0.271, p<0.01). Limited by a small number of studies, analyses did not identify any significant moderators of overall effects. These results show that continuing care can provide at least modest benefit after initial treatment. We discuss study characteristics that may have reduced the magnitude of the overall continuing care effect estimate.

Keywords: Aftercare; Continuing care; Meta-analysis; Substance use disorders; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Literature search flow diagram.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effect sizes and 95% confidence interval for continuing care compared to no- or minimal-treatment at the end of the planned continuing care intervention.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effect sizes and 95% confidence interval for continuing care compared to no- or minimal-treatment at the longest follow-up point after the end of the planned continuing care intervention.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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