Efficacy of a three- versus a five-week alcohol treatment program.

Eighty-six male alcoholic inpatients were randomly assigned to comparable 3- or 5-week treatment progrrams. Psychometric testing at the beginning and the end of treatment was supplemented by follow-up data 6 months after discharge. While both the 3- and 5-week groups demonstrated significant improvement on both MMPI and follow-up data, few differences between the groups were revealed. The comparable results obtained offer little justification for prolonging inpatient treatment beyond 3 weeks. It is suggested that the inpatient phase of alcohol treatment be brief and oriented to developing a well-structured extended outpatient program.