Alcohol Rehab: Treatment:
3.1 million Americans–approximately 1.4% of the population ages 12 and older–received treatment for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems in 1997; treatment peaked among people between the ages 26-34 (SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1997, 4/99, p. 169, 172).
A study examining the relative cost effectiveness of 33 specific alcohol rehab modalities for alcoholism suggested that more costly treatments are not necessarily more effective; of the six treatment modalities classified as having “good evidence of effect,” all appear in the minimal-, low-, or medium-low-cost categories (NIAAA, Eighth Special Report, op. cit., p. 261).
Providing heavy drinkers who are not alcohol-dependent with self-help materials relating to alcoholism can, by itself, be an effective method of brief intervention (Ibid., p. 309).
