Prevention of relapses in alcohol use disorders among adults
Kapkiyai, Benard; Chepkemboi, Sharon; Koech, Douglas (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112830835
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112830835
Tiivistelmä
Alcohol is the most consumed legal drug globally, and social acceptability often conceals its severe health and social harms increasing the propensity to dependency often leading to alcohol use disorder (AUD). Affecting about 7% of individuals over 15years of age, alcohol use disorder contributes to significant psychiatric, physical and socioeconomic burdens.
This literature review was conducted to find out which ways can help prevent relapses. Nine articles from medical databases CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and PubMed were searched using MeSH terms and Boolean operators.
The findings revealed that alcohol use disorder is a complicated disorder, and no single intervention proved universally effective. Several treatment options, including cognitive behavioural therapies, pharmacological treatments, and technological interventions, have been tried both independently and in combina-tion producing varied outcomes both positive and negative. Overall, it revealed that relapse prevention is best achieved through integrated and multifaceted approaches. These strategies reduced relapse rates, cravings, and drinking days and rates while improving abstinence, coping skills and quality of life.
Nevertheless, relapse prevention remains to be highly variable and unpredictable process that takes weeks and sometimes months before recovery. Therefore, its success is rooted in the individual’s urge and effort to change their lives, early identification, combined treatment and therapies coupled with continuous support that address both biological and psychosocial predisposing factors to relapse as they will still be there during and after treatment.
This literature review was conducted to find out which ways can help prevent relapses. Nine articles from medical databases CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and PubMed were searched using MeSH terms and Boolean operators.
The findings revealed that alcohol use disorder is a complicated disorder, and no single intervention proved universally effective. Several treatment options, including cognitive behavioural therapies, pharmacological treatments, and technological interventions, have been tried both independently and in combina-tion producing varied outcomes both positive and negative. Overall, it revealed that relapse prevention is best achieved through integrated and multifaceted approaches. These strategies reduced relapse rates, cravings, and drinking days and rates while improving abstinence, coping skills and quality of life.
Nevertheless, relapse prevention remains to be highly variable and unpredictable process that takes weeks and sometimes months before recovery. Therefore, its success is rooted in the individual’s urge and effort to change their lives, early identification, combined treatment and therapies coupled with continuous support that address both biological and psychosocial predisposing factors to relapse as they will still be there during and after treatment.