Systematic review of community detoxification for alcohol dependency

One of the first things that people with alcohol dependence have to do is stop drinking safely; this is called ‘detoxification’. It is a potentially dangerous process which needs to be done under medical supervision. People who are detoxing need psychological support and drug treatment. Many prefer to get this help from their GPs.

We want to establish what is the safest, most effective and cost-effective away of offering this help in general practice, but with support from specialist alcohol services. As a first step towards doing this we want to review all the research in this area. Our particular interest is in the community detoxification of those who have relatively serious alcohol problems and will need the most intensive input.