Biomaterial Database

Follow-up contact bias in adolescent substance abuse treatment outcome research. 1994

R D Stinchfield, and L Niforopulos, and S H Feder

Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.

This study examined the problem of follow-up contact bias in adolescent substance abuse treatment outcome research. The sample consisted of 299 male and female adolescents at an AA-oriented hospital-based inpatient substance abuse treatment program. Six-month and 12-month follow-up data were collected from adolescents and their parents with a sequence of standard and supplementary follow-up data collection procedures. Standard efforts were implemented first and subjects contacted were assigned to the easy-to-contact group. Those subjects not contacted with the initial standard efforts were included in the supplementary effort. Subjects contacted with supplementary efforts constituted the difficult-to-contact group. The difficult-to-contact group exhibited consistently poorer outcomes compared to the easy-to-contact group across most outcome variables and for both follow-up periods. Outcome results from extant studies with a significant number of noncontacted subjects may represent overestimates of outcome and may not be generalizable to the noncontacted group.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008910	Minnesota	State bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, on the south by Iowa, and on the west by North Dakota and South Dakota.
D010043	Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care	Evaluation procedures that focus on both the outcome or status (OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT) of the patient at the end of an episode of care - presence of symptoms, level of activity, and mortality; and the process (ASSESSMENT, PROCESS) - what is done for the patient diagnostically and therapeutically.	Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care),Donabedian Model,Donabedian Triad,Outcome and Process Assessment,Structure Process Outcome Triad,Model, Donabedian,Triad, Donabedian
D010352	Patient Dropouts	Discontinuance of care received by patient(s) due to reasons other than full recovery from the disease.	Dropout, Patient,Dropouts, Patient,Patient Dropout
D011619	Psychotropic Drugs	A loosely defined grouping of drugs that have effects on psychological function. Here the psychotropic agents include the antidepressive agents, hallucinogens, and tranquilizing agents (including the antipsychotics and anti-anxiety agents).	Psychoactive Agent,Psychoactive Agents,Psychoactive Drug,Psychopharmaceutical,Psychopharmaceuticals,Psychotropic Drug,Psychoactive Drugs,Agent, Psychoactive,Agents, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychotropic,Drugs, Psychoactive,Drugs, Psychotropic
D012008	Recurrence	The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission.	Recrudescence,Relapse,Recrudescences,Recurrences,Relapses
D005260	Female		Females
D005500	Follow-Up Studies	Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.	Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths