Compliance to supervised disulfiram therapy: a comparison of voluntary and court-ordered patients.

ABSTRACT

We hypothesized that court mandate would significantly enhance compliance with supervised disulfiram therapy. We conducted a twelve-week prospective study of outpatient compliance with court-ordered, monitored disulfiram treatment as compared to voluntary, monitored treatment. The court ordered group (n=19) was significantly more compliant than the voluntary group (n=22). Legally mandated subjects attended an average of 87% (+/-21%) of scheduled visits, versus 42% (+/-35%) for the group without court order. Court mandate roughly doubles the compliance rate of monitored disulfiram therapy, effectively enhancing clinic attendance during the first twelve weeks of treatment.