Results from a study to evaluate in 1,951 acute psychiatric inpatients the reliability, construct, convergent and predictive validity of substance induced syndrome ratings made by academic attending psychiatrists, using a structured and reliable instrument were presented. The primary admitting condition for each subject was rated by clinical attendings as not, mildly, moderately or mostly substance induced, at both admission and discharge. Ratings changed little between admission and discharge. Individual ratings were associated with characteristic demographic, clinical treatment response and length of stay findings indicating good construct and predictive validity. Alcohol abuse was determined by a previously validated three-item screening instrument.
Risk factors are similar to the general population.
Further research is warranted to aid clinicians in the detection and treatment of alcohol abuse among this special population. This study compared persons who were homeless and diagnosed with serious mental illness with and without comorbid substance abuse on baseline characteristics and clinical improvement after 12 months. At baseline DD clients were worse off than non-DD clients on most clinical and social adjustment measures. However, among dually diagnosed clients, those who reported extensive involvement in substance abuse treatment showed clinical improvement comparable or better than non-dually diagnosed clients. Dually diagnosed persons who were homeless have poorer adjustment on most baseline measures and show significantly less clinical improvement than the non-dually diagnosed.