Substance-dependence rehab treatment in Thailand: a meta analysis.

Objective: To synthesize the substance-dependence researches focusing on rehab treatment phase. Material and Method: Several criteria were used to select studies for meta analysis. Firstly, the research must have focused on the rehab period on the substance-dependence treatment, secondly, only quantitative researches that used statistics to calculate effect sizes were selected, and thirdly, all researches were from Thai libraries and were done during 1997-2006. The instrument used for data collection was comprised of two sets. The first used to collect the general information of studies including the crucial statistics and test statistics. The second was used to assess the quality of studies. Results: Results from synthesizing 32 separate studies found that 323 effect sizes were computed in terms of the correlation coefficient “r”. The psychology approach rehab program was higher in effect size than the network approach (p < 0.05). Additionally, Quasi-experimental studies were higher in effect size than correlation studies (p < 0.05). Among the quasi-experimental studies it was found that TCs revealed the highest effect size (r = 0.76) Among the correlation studies, it was found that the motivation program revealed the highest effect size (r = 0.84). Conclusion: The substance-use rehab treatment programs in Thailand which revealed the high effect size should be adjusted to the current program. However, the narcotic studies which focus on the rehab phase should be synthesized every 5-10 years in order to integrate new concept into the development of future the substance-dependence rehab treatment program, especially those at the research unit of the Drug Dependence Treatment Institute/Centers in Thailand. Keywords: Narcotic, Drug addict, Substance-dependence, Rehab treatment program, Meta analysis