Table 1.
More and less exclusive operationalizations of prevalent eligibility criteria using items from the Addiction Severity Index (ASI)
| Basis for exclusion | Operationalization | |
| Psychiatric problems | Less exclusive | At least three of the following: No. of times treated as inpatient for psychiatric problems > 1 |
| Experienced hallucinations, lifetime (yes/no) | ||
| Experienced serious thoughts of suicide, past 30 days (yes/no) | ||
| Attempted suicide, lifetime (yes/no) | ||
| Been prescribed medication for psychiatric problems, past 30 days (yes/no) | ||
| More exclusive | At least one of above | |
| Medical problems | Less exclusive | ASI medical composite > 0.66 (>2.5 SD above mean) |
| More exclusive | ASI medical composite > 0.58 (>2.0 SD above mean) | |
| Drug use | Less exclusive | Any one of the following: No. of times overdosed on drugs > 0 |
| No. of days experienced drug problems, past 30 days, ≥ 5 | ||
| Used any of the following drugs at least 15 days of the past 30: heroin, methadone, opiates/analgesics, barbiturates, sedatives, cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants | ||
| More exclusive | Any one of the following: No. of times overdosed on drugs > 0 | |
| No. of days experienced drug problems, past 30 days, ≥ 1 | ||
| Used any of the above drugs at least 5 days of the past 30 | ||
| Unmotivated/noncompliant | Less exclusive | Patient's rating of the importance of receiving alcohol-abuse treatment was <3 on a scale of 0 = not at all, 1 = slightly, 2 = moderately, 3 = considerably, 4 = extremely. |
| More exclusive | Patient's rating of the important of treatment using the above scale was <4; or during interview, was patient obviously hostile? (yes/no) | |
| Social and residential stability | Less exclusive | Any two of the following: Was usually unemployed during the past 3 years |
| Has no stable living arrangement | ||
| Is living in a controlled environment | ||
| More Exclusive | Any one of above |