Although many studies have been conducted regarding the effectiveness of different types of alcoholism treatment programs, none have asked alcoholics themselves which type of programs helped them and which types of programs they would seek out again. Considering that the drop-out rate for treatment programs is relatively high, patient preferences is important in attracting patients to treatment and retaining them throughout the process. The authors sampled 54 alcoholic men who had been admitted to an inpatient metabolic and behavioral research study. The subjects, all of whom had considerable experience as participants in alcoholism treatment were interviewed 1-, 3-, and 8-years post discharge regarding their recommendations and criticisms of alcohol treatment programs. Among the most frequently mentioned choices of treatments considered beneficial were Inpatient Milieu and Alcoholics Anonymous. The authors then compared interview results with published reviews of treatment outcomes studies. Relationships between treatment preferences, subject outcomes, and treatment resource use were analyzed. Findings suggested that the interview subjects had an accurate perception of their current and past treatment needs. Most viewed inpatient treatment as appropriate in cases of clinical need. The authors suggest that their results should help treatment providers to develop treatment options that are attractive to clients and will retain clients throughout the course of treatment. References