Integration of Outpatient Alcohol Treatment in Drug Use Disorder Treatment Centers in Iran: Study Protocol

Alcohol use is a health concern in Iran, the most populated Persian Gulf country. However, alcohol use disorder treatment is a new issue in Iran, which needs consideration.
In this article, we present a study protocol that aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of integration of outpatient alcohol use disorder treatment in drug treatment centers in Iran.
The study design is a prospective cohort and multi-center research, which will be conducted in major cities of Iran in 2016 - 2017. Overall, 750 participants with psychiatric diagnosis of hazardous alcohol drinking or dependence will be recruited. The settings will be 150 outpatient drug treatment centers. This project will be implemented in 3 phases. Phase I will be the preparation phase, Phase II will focus on training treatment providers and Phase III will be the main phase of the study and will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of integration of alcohol use disorder treatment services within outpatient network of drug treatment centers. Five questionnaires will be used to assess the study outcomes. Completing the study questionnaires at baseline, weeks 4, 12, 24, and 52 will assess participants. Data analyses, including descriptive statistics, regression models, and repeated measures of ANOVA will be performed using SPSS version 22.
This is the first study to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of integration of outpatient alcohol use disorder treatment in drug treatment centers in Iran. If found effective, the results of this study will be useful for applying in Iran and other countries in Western and Central Asia.