The Effects of Drug Camp in Treatment of Methamphetamine Use with a New Behavioral Change Model: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Drug camps have been used to treat substance use in Thailand since the 2000s. However, some researchers have argued that drug camp’s effectiveness was insufficient to help the attendants to be abstinent. This study explored the drug camp’s effects by comparing a drug camp model, developed based on 12-Step, cognitive–behavioral theory, and group psychotherapy theory with one that currently has been used in drug camps in Thailand. One drug camp in Nakhon Ratchasima was selected as an area of study. Drug attendants who lived in Khong district were assigned into a 12-Step group, which used the new model (n = 35). Meanwhile, other attendants who lived in other districts in Nakhon Ratchasima were assigned into a treatment-as-usual group (n = 57). Methamphetamine use behavior was assessed before and after the camp. There was a significant difference between the 12-Step and treatment-as-usual group on the level of the attendants’ average methamphetamine use after controlling average methamphetamine use before drug camp [F (1,84) = 91.76, p < 0.001]. Comparing the estimated marginal means showed that average methamphetamine use 1 year after drug camp of the 12-Step group (mean = 0.74, SD = 1.79) was lower than the treatment-as-usual group (mean = 11.25, SD = 14.06). One year after camp, Cox proportional hazards regression indicated that the chances of the attendants in the 12-Step group returning to methamphetamine use were reduced by 88% (adjusted hazard = 0.120, 95% CI 0.061–0.023) after controlling for confounding variables, including age, marital status, education, and occupation.