Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39535132›Full record

ArticleAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)2024

Investigating the service utilization and pathways of patients with alcohol use disorders.

Jingxiang Zhang, Siyu Qian, Guoxin Su, Chao Deng, David Reid, Barbara Sinclair, Ping Yu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jingxiang ZhangInstitute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China.ORCID 0000-0001-9091-4217
Siyu QianDrug and Alcohol Service, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, 2 Rawson Street Wollongong, New South Wales 2520, Australia.
Guoxin SuSchool of Computing and Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.
Chao DengSchool of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.
David ReidDrug and Alcohol Service, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, 2 Rawson Street Wollongong, New South Wales 2520, Australia.
Barbara SinclairDrug and Alcohol Service, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, 2 Rawson Street Wollongong, New South Wales 2520, Australia.
Ping YuCentre for Digital Transformation, School of Computing and Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProcess mining was widely used in healthcare settings to analyse patient pathways, providing insights about patient care and resource allocation. This study aimed to apply process mining to explore service utilization and pathways of patients with alcohol use disorders in receiving the community-based Drug and Alcohol Service to establish a baseline for evaluating improvement initiatives.

methodsPatients' encounters with the Drug and Alcohol Service and their direct care activities (i.e. Intake, Assessment, and treatment service activities) that occurred in these encounters were analysed to depict the actual pathways. Patterns were uncovered from these actual pathways using a process mining tool Disco. Patients with alcohol use disorders were divided into two groups-patients who use polysubstance and those who do not-to compare their service utilization and pathway patterns.

resultsFive hundred seventy-one patients with alcohol use disorders incurred 1447 encounters, comprising 13,974 activities. The top three actual pathways with at least three activities were: (i) pathway 'Intake-> Withdrawal Management-> Withdrawal Management' (170 (11.7%) encounters and 130 (22.8%) patients); (ii) pathway 'Intake-> Adult Counselling-> Adult Counselling' (161 (11.1%) encounters and 126 (22.1%) patients); and (iii) pathway 'Intake-> Assessment-> Withdrawal Management' (155 (10.7%) encounters and 129 (22.6%) patients). However, 313 (21.6%) encounters did not proceed beyond the Intake stage. When the patients started their pathways from Intake, their immediate next activities were frequently Withdrawal Management, Assessment or Adult Counselling. Compared to those who do not use polysubstance, patients who use polysubstance had a higher proportion of Intake (19.3% vs 11.8%, P < .001), Involuntary Treatment (4.0% vs 1.0%, P < .001) and Magistrate Early Referral into Treatment (6.4% vs .3%, P < .001), but a lower proportion of Withdrawal Management (31.2% vs 39.0%, P < .001) and Adult Counselling (27.8% vs 37.6%, P < .001).

conclusionThis study contributes to an in-depth understanding of service utilization and pathways of patients with alcohol use disorders within the community-based Drug and Alcohol Service. Future studies should investigate their reasons for dropping out after Intake.

Indexed as

Patient Acceptance of Health CareAdultAlcoholismAlcohol-Related DisordersFemaleHumansMaleMiddle Agedalcohol use disordersdrug and alcohol servicepatient pathwayprocess mining

Identifiers

PMID39535132
PMCPMC11558449

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.