Follow-Up of a Sample of Patients with Substance Use Disorder After Completing a Rehabilitation Program in a Continuous Care Unit in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, from 2012 to 2022: A Retrospective Study

Purpose: There has been limited research on Saudi patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) that has examined and assessed the psychotherapy modalities utilized in rehabilitation. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate rehabilitation programs in the continuous care unit of the Erada Complex for Mental Health, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Patients and Methods: The purpose of this study was to compare patients who finished the program with those who did not in order to determine the rate of re-admission and recurrence. Male patients (1160) aged >20 who had been diagnosed with SUDs were included in this retrospective cohort study. After ruling out mood, anxiety, psychosis, and other psychiatric disorders, they commenced a one-year rehabilitation program. Six months after leaving the facility, all participants who completed the program or not were readmitted had relapses and underwent urine toxicological tests. Results: Data analysis showed that 34.97% of patients completed the program, while 65.03% of patients did not complete the program. Within 6 months of follow-up after discharge, re-admission occurred in only 13.1% of patients that completed the program, but patients who did not complete the program had a readmission rate that reached 26.9% with statistical significance. In comparison between the two groups regarding relapse without needing admission, there was a significant difference between patients who completed the program (reached 14%) and those who did not complete the program (reached 28.9%). With a logistic regression model, the only significant predictor was completion of the program (the odds ratio was 0.42). Conclusion: The present results in this study revealed that patients with substance use disorder who had finished the specific rehabilitation program in the continuous care unit had lower risk of relapse and re-admission. Further studies are needed to elucidate the importance of the rehabilitation programs in the management of substance use disorder.