@article{ref1,
title="Telephone-based continuing care counseling in substance abuse treatment: economic analysis of a randomized trial",
journal="Drug and alcohol dependence",
year="2016",
author="Shepard, Donald S. and Daley, Marilyn C. and Neuman, Matthew J. and Blaakman, Aaron P. and McKay, James R.",
volume="159",
number="",
pages="109-116",
abstract="PURPOSE  To investigate whether telephone-based continuing care (TEL) is a promising alternative to traditional face-to-face counseling for clients in treatment for substance abuse.   Methods  Patients with alcohol and/or cocaine dependence who had completed a 4-week intensive outpatient program were randomly assigned through urn randomization into one of three 12-week interventions: standard continuing care (STD), in-person relapse prevention (RP), or telephone-based continuing care (TEL). This study performed cost, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit analyses of TEL and RP compared to STD, using results from the randomized clinical trial with two years of follow up (359 participants). In addition, the study examined the potential moderating effect of baseline patient costs on economic outcomes.   Results  The study found that TEL was less expensive per client from the societal perspective ($569) than STD ($870) or RP ($1684). TEL also was also significantly more effective, with an abstinence rate of 57.1% compared to 46.7% for STD (p < 0.05). Thus TEL dominated STD, with a highly favorable negative incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (−$1400 per abstinent year). TEL also proved favorable under a benefit-cost perspective.    Conclusions  TEL proved to be a cost-effective and cost-beneficial contributor to long-term recovery over two years. Because TEL dominated STD care interventions, wider adoption should be considered.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0376-8716",
doi="10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.11.034",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.11.034"
}