Which detoxified alcoholic keeps the first clinic appointment

Abstract One-hundred-eighty consecutive discharged alcoholic inpatients making first outpatient appointments during a 15-month period were studied. Eighty-four (47%) patients who kept their scheduled appointments differed from 96 (53%) patients who failed to keep their appointments, only in numbers of previous hospitalizations. Patients who were admitted four or less times for detoxification previously had a significantly higher rate of keeping the scheduled appointments ( x = 5.82, d.f. = 2, P