The SECCAT Survey: II. The Alcohol Related Problems Questionnaire as a proxy for resource costs and quality of life in alcoholism treatment. Study of Socio-Economic Consequences and Costs of Alcoholism and Treatment.

An interview was obtained with 212 patients who had, at a point 12 months previously, been in contact with an alcohol problems clinic. Quality of life (SF-36) was measured and for the preceding 6 months the cost of health and social service resource use was estimated, together with the total abstinent (or controlled drinking) days accrued. Alcohol related health, personal and social problems experienced during that period were elicited using a brief 11-item questionnaire, the Alcohol Related Problems Questionnaire (ARPQ). The estimate of costs correlated more strongly with the ARPQ score (r = -0.32, P = 0.0001) than with abstinent days (r = 0.03, n.s.) or controlled drinking months (r = -0.21, P = 0.002). The lack of relation of total abstinent days to cost is partly because abstainers tended to use considerable alcohol problems clinic resources. ARPQ scores indicating more problems were associated with lower quality of life. The ARPQ can serve as a proxy for resource use and quality of life in alcoholism treatment.