Personality predictors of the failure of alcoholics to come for follow-up assessment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that differentiate best between alcoholic patients who kept their one-year follow-up research appointment and those who did not. Patients attending hospital for alcohol detoxification treatment in Reykjavik were assessed psychologically during the first week of their treatment. One year later they were asked to attend a follow-up appointment for a further psychological evaluation. A total of 313 patients were assessed, 70% were male and 30% were female. Eighty-three (27%) of the patients attended the follow-up appointment. Those who failed to keep their follow-up appointment were significantly younger than the other patients, were more disordered in their personality, had higher trait anxiety, and lower social desirability scores. The severity of their alcohol withdrawal symptoms at the time of treatment was not a significant factor. A discriminant function analysis showed that EPQ Psychoticism was the single best factor that discriminated between the two groups after taking into account other variables, including the age of participants and social desirability.