Avinash De Sousa, Jyoti Jagtap.
An open label trial of naltrexone versus disulfiram in elderly patients with alcohol dependence.
J Pak Psych Soc Jan ;6(2):85-9.

Objectives: This study aims to compare the efficacy of Disulfiram (DSF) and Naltrexone (NTX) for preventing alcoholic relapse in elderly patients in routine clinical practice. Design: Open label trial of naltrexone versus disulfiram. Place and duration of study: The study was conducted between December 2007 and November 2008 at a private psychiatric hospital in Mumbai. Subjects and Methods: 32 elderly alcoholics with proper relatives or caregivers that would encourage medical compliance and would accompany them for follow up were randomly allocated to 6 months of treatment with DSF or NTX. Weekly group supportive psychotherapy was also provided. The psychiatrist, patient and family member were aware of the treatment prescribed. Alcohol consumption, craving and adverse events were recorded weekly for 2 months and fortnightly thereafter. Results: At the end of the trial, 46 patients were still in contact. Relapse occurred at a mean of 91 days with DSF compared to 52 days for NTX (p = 0.0001). 81.25% patients on DSF remained abstinent compared to 43.75% with NTX (p = 0.0001). Patients allocated with NTX however had less craving than the DSF group (p = 0.0022). Conclusions: DSF was thus found to be superior to NTX in preventing relapse in elderly alcoholics with good caregiver support. The use of DSF in the elderly population with alcohol dependence needs further exploration and research .

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