Evaluation of an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation programme.

A retrospective matching procedure was used to form a control group of 145 men who underwent detoxification, but unlike the treatment group did not enter the Quo Vadis Hospital rehabilitation programme. On a wide range of variables for which data was obtained at follow-up interview, respondents in the two groups were very similar. By contrast, official records data showed that the treatment group had significantly more readmissions to the detoxification hospital during the follow-up period than the control group. A number of methodological issues are briefly discussed.