Days to treatment and early retention among patients in treatment for alcohol and drug disorders

ObjectivesDrug and alcohol treatment programs often have long delays between assessment and treatment admission. The study examined the impact of days to treatment admission on the probability of completing four sessions of care within an addiction treatment program implementing improvements in their admission process.MethodsMixed-effects logistic regression was used to test the effect of wait time on retention in care.ResultsFindings demonstrate a strong decrement in the probability of completing four sessions of treatment with increasing time between the clinical assessment and first treatment session.

Research Highlights
► Delays between assessment and treatment admission are a common problem.
► We examine impact of length of wait time to treatment on retention in care.
► Longer wait time to treatment is associated with decreased retention in care.
► Treatment organizations must improve time to treatment for better retention in care.