Behavioral use of disulfiram in the treatment of problem drinking.

As part of an outpatient treatment research project alternative ways of using Antabuse (disulfiram) in the treatment of problem drinkers are developed. Instead of forced regular use, Antabuse was administered as a voluntary situational therapeutic tool. Subjects were 84 men and 51 women. Thirty percent of both men and women decided to use Antabuse. Men most often used disulfiram continuously for a longer period or to stop an ongoing drinking period. The women used Antabuse to secure shorter periods of abstinence as part of their drinking schedules and to prevent drinking in specific high-risk situations. The subjects using Antabuse reduced their ethanol consumption significantly (p less than .05) at the end of the follow-up period, compared to the nonusers.