Alcoholism treatment and potential health care cost saving.

In 1979, MEDICAL CARE published a supplement that summarized and evaluated existing research on changes in health care patterns associated with mental health, alcoholism, and drug abuse treatment. This paper, limited to alcoholism treatment, reviews research that has been completed since the 1979 supplement. Considerations of appropriate research methods are discussed, recent studies that have employed a variety of research approaches are reviewed and evaluated, overall findings are summarized, implications and conclusions that can be drawn about offset are discussed, and recommendations for future research are made. These studies have fewer methodologic limitations and utilize larger study groups and longer follow-up periods than did earlier studies. They confirm earlier findings that general health care utilization and costs drop after initiation of alcoholism treatment.