Treatment seeking and barriers to treatment for alcohol use in persons with alcohol use disorders and comorbid mood or anxiety disorders

Christopher N. Kaufmann, Lian Yu Chen, Rosa M. Crum, Ramin Mojtabai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study compared the prevalence and patterns of treatment seeking and barriers to alcohol treatment among individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUD) with and without comorbid mood or anxiety disorders.

METHODS: We used data from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions to examine alcohol treatment seeking, treatment settings and providers, perceived unmet need for treatment and barriers to such treatment. Our sample consisted of 5,003 individuals with AUD with a comorbid mood or anxiety disorder and 6,734 individuals with AUD but without mood or anxiety disorder comorbidity.

RESULTS: The group with mood or anxiety disorder comorbidity was more likely to seek alcohol treatment than the group without such comorbidity (18 vs. 12 %, p < 0.001). The comorbid group was also more likely to perceive an unmet need for such treatment (8 vs. 3 %, p < 0.001) and to report a larger number of barriers (2.81 vs. 2.20, p = 0.031). Individuals with AUD with comorbid mood or anxiety disorders were more likely than those without to report financial barriers to alcohol treatment (19 vs. 10 %, p = 0.032).

CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with AUD and comorbid mood or anxiety disorders would likely benefit from the expansion of financial access to alcohol treatments and integration of services envisioned under the Affordable Care Act.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1489-1499
Number of pages11
JournalSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
Volume49
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Health(social science)
  • Social Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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