Motivational interview with alcoholics: a longitudinal study abstract / A entrevista motivacional com alcoolistas: um estudo longitudinal

This was a follow up study with alcoholic patients participating in a clinical trial with the use of Motivational Interviewing. 152 subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: the intervention group (IG), which was submitted to Motivational Interviewing, and the control group (CG), submitted to standard treatment. Data were collected with a structured interview and FORM-90. 152 subjects were assessed at the first evaluation (T1), approximately 4 years ago. From 89 subjects who were assessed at follow-up 1 (T2), 59 remained abstinent (37 IG and 22 CG) and 30 had relapsed (13 IG and CG). 46 subjects returned for the final evaluation, at follow-up 2 (T3). 29 of them had remained abstinent (20 IG and 10 CG) and 17 had relapsed (13 IG and 4CG). Data show that subjects submitted to Motivational Interviewing had better outcomes than the control group in both abstinence maintenance and follow-up attendance.