The effect of co-morbid depression and anxiety on the course and outcome of alcohol outpatient
treatment: A naturalistic prospective cohort study
Sammanfattning
Background: Studies examining the effect of alcohol treatment among patients with alcohol use
disorders (AUD) and co-morbid depression and/or anxiety are few and show inconsistent, but mainly
negative drinking outcomes. Aims: To describe the prevalence of anxiety and depression among
Danish patients seeking treatment for an AUD, and to investigate the influence of psychiatric co-
morbidity on the course and effect of treatment. Method: A consecutive sample of 363 outpatients with
an AUD diagnosis according to the ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research was assessed by the
means of the Addiction Severity Index at treatment start and 276 (76%) followed up after 1 year.
Results: 15.7% of the patients suffered from depression and 12.7% from anxiety at baseline. Both
patients with or without co-morbidity had improved on drinking outcome measures at follow-up with
medium to large effect sizes. No difference was found between patients with and without co-
morbidity. Conclusion: In contrast to the majority of prior studies, this study provides evidence that
depression and anxiety do not have an effect on alcohol treatment. However, because of the
naturalistic setting, a number of limitations should be taken into consideration interpreting the
results.