Addiction Treatment Dropout Prevention - Impact of Online Patient Feedback (OQ-45.2) to Therapist

Dropout represents one of the largest problems in substance abuse treatment. International and Nordic research show that only 20 - 40 % of substance abusers complete treatment as intended. At the same time, one of the most consistent factors of favourable post-treatment outcome is treatment completion. In spite of the serious and continuous challenge dropout represents the phenomena is not well understood and there is a need to explore more of the factors that influence dropout and how it can be counteracted. As also stated: "...effective methods for reducing the problem of dropouts from treatment is one more area in need of further research" (NOU 2003:4, s 77).

For the general field of mental health one of the most important innovations involves providing therapists with patient feedback about their progress. The most well-established and widely researched feedback system is the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2). The system has been shown to improve treatment outcomes, including reduced treatment dropout and length of treatment, but the system is yet to be utilized with a substance abusing patient group. The aim of the present study is to examine the usefulness of OQ-45.2 with substance abusing patients.