Survey Finds That Many Recover From Alcoholism

More than one-third of U.S. adults with alcoholism that began more than one year ago are still in recovery, according to an article in the current issue of addiction . These individuals show no symptoms of either alcohol dependence or alcohol abuse and either abstain or drink at levels below those known to increase relapse risk. The analysis is based on data from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a project of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

"Results from the latest NESARC analysis strengthen previous reports that many persons can and do recover from alcoholism," said NIAAA Director Ting-Kai Li, M.D.

Lead author Deborah Dawson, Ph.D. and her colleagues in the Laboratory of Biometry and Epidemiology in NIAAA's intramural research program released the latest NESARC analysis in an article entitled "Recovery From DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence: United States, 2001-2002." Based on a representative sample of 43,000 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, the NESARC is the largest survey ever conducted of the co-occurrence of alcohol and drug use disorders and related psychiatric conditions.

The recovery analysis is based on a subgroup of 4,422 adults who met the clinical criteria for alcohol dependence that began more than one year before the 2001-2002 survey. These individuals were primarily middle-aged, non-Hispanic white males. Sixty percent had attended or completed college. More than half had experienced the onset of alcohol dependence between the ages of 18 and 24, and only 25.5 percent had ever received treatment for their alcohol problems.

Dr. Dawson and her colleagues found that the likelihood of abstinent recovery increased over time and with age and was higher among women, individuals who were, and persons who had experienced a greater number of dependence symptoms.

When the authors compared their results with findings from the earlier 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES), they noted a trend during the past decade toward less rapid remission (that is, the absence of alcohol abuse or dependence symptoms) in persons previously dependent. "There are no obvious explanations for why this might be the case. Data from Wave 2 of the NESARC should provide valuable information to address this issue," they said. The NESARC is a longitudinal study now entering the first stage of followup that should shed light on pathways to recovery.

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Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

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