Medical-behavioral treatment of the older alcoholic patient.

The purpose of the present research was to assess the treatment effectiveness of a multimodality alcoholism treatment program with older alcoholic patients. Treatment success was defined as 1 year of sobriety following inpatient treatment in a multicomponent program oriented around aversion conditioning to alcohol. A total of 87 patients, 65 years or older, were admitted, and a total of 78 patients were treated in the Raleigh Hills Hospital-Portland over a 2-year period. Descriptive psychological test data, demographic characteristics, and symptom history data were obtained for these patients and related to treatment outcome. This population of elderly alcoholic patients treated as successfully as younger patients. Their abstinence percentage combined for the two treatment years was 65.4% continuous sobriety over a 12-month follow-up period.