Economic Costs of a Postrelease Intervention for Incarcerated Female Substance Abusers: Recovery Management Checkups for Women Offenders (RMC-WO)

This study estimates the economic costs of Recovery Management Checkups for Women Offenders (RMC-WO), highlighting the unique mix of services and differential costs between two distinct phases of the intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to quarterly outcome monitoring (OM) only (n=242) or OM plus Recovery Management Checkups (OM-plus-RMC) (n=238). The OM-only condition has a total annual economic cost of $76,010, which equates to $81 quarterly per person. The average cost per OM interview completed is $86. OM-plus-RMC generates a total annual economic cost of $126,717, or $137 quarterly per person. The cost per interview completed is $147 and the cost per intervention session completed is $161. RMC-WO has a relatively modest additional cost compared with the average costs of post-release supervision, which can range from $3.42 ($1,250) per day (year) for probationers to $7.47 ($2,750) per day (year) for parolees. The clinical, economic, and policy implications of incorporating RMC-WO into existing corrections and/or community-based treatment settings are discussed.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of Recovery Management Checkups (RMC) for adults with chronic substance use disorders: evidence from a 4-year randomized trial

AIMS

This study performs the first cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of Recovery Management Checkups (RMC) for adults with chronic substance use disorders.

DESIGN

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomized clinical trial of RMC. Participants were assigned randomly to a control condition of outcome monitoring (OM-only) or the experimental condition OM-plus-RMC, with quarterly follow-up for 4 years.

SETTING

Participants were recruited from the largest central intake unit for substance abuse treatment in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 446 participants who were 38 years old on average, 54% male, and predominantly African American (85%).

MEASUREMENTS

Data on the quarterly cost per participant come from a previous study of OM and RMC intervention costs. Effectiveness is measured as the number of days of abstinence and number of substance use-related problems.

FINDINGS

Over the 4-year trial, OM-plus-RMC cost on average $2184 more than OM-only (P < 0.01). Participants in OM-plus-RMC averaged 1026 days abstinent and had 89 substance use-related problems. OM-only averaged 932 days abstinent and reported 126 substance use-related problems. Mean differences for both effectiveness measures were statistically significant (P < 0.01). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for OM-plus-RMC was $23.38 per day abstinent and $59.51 per reduced substance-related problem. When additional costs to society were factored into the analysis, OM-plus-RMC was less costly and more effective than OM-only.

CONCLUSIONS

Recovery Management Checkups are a cost-effective and potentially cost-saving strategy for promoting abstinence and reducing substance use-related problems among chronic substance users.

Opportunity costs and financial incentives for Hispanic youth participating in a family-based HIV and substance use preventive intervention

This paper presents results from a pilot study of the synergies between the opportunity costs incurred by research participants, participant compensation, and program attendance in a family-based substance use and HIV preventive intervention for Hispanic adolescents in Miami-Dade County, Florida. To estimate parent/caretaker cost per session and cost for the duration of the intervention, we administered the Caretaker Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program to a random sample of 34 families who participated in a recent clinical trial of Familias Unidas. The total opportunity cost per parent/caretaker was under $40 per group session, under $30 per family session, and just over $570 for the duration of the intervention. Participants were compensated between $40 and $50 per session and attended more than 79% of family and group sessions. Parents and caretakers incurred a cost of approximately $30-40 per intervention session for which they were adequately compensated. Attendance was very good overall for this group (>79%) and significantly higher than attendance in a comparable uncompensated study group from another recent Familias Unidas trial that targeted similar youth. Findings suggest that incentives should be considered important for future implementations of Familias Unidas and similar family-based interventions that target minority and low-SES populations.

[Neurologic disorders in patients submitted to liver transplantation: analysis of 30 consecutive cases]

Neurologic complications are important source of morbi-mortality, in liver transplantation. They result from previous factors, alterations during the surgical procedure, effects from immunosuppressor drugs, coagulopathy and infections. We analyzed, retrospectively, the chronology, causes, and frequencies of neurologic alterations in thirty adult patients submitted to liver transplantation, and our results differ slightly from those registered in other series.