An analytic comparison of persons arrested for driving while intoxicated and alcohol detoxification patients.

This article presents findings on an analytic comparison of two groups of persons for whom alcohol is an identical clinical or social problem--247 patients currently under treatment in a detoxification unit in a general hospital and 118 individuals who had been arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and were attending a DWI school. A systematic comparison of these two groups yielded several important, statistically significant differences and it becomes increasingly apparent that distinctions can be made that permit the identification of high-risk segments of the DWI population, facilitating early diagnosis and differential treatment modes.