AccScience Publishing / JCBP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/jcbp.6559
REVIEW ARTICLE

Assessment tools and factors associated with relapse among patients with alcohol use disorders: A narrative review

Hongqiang Lu1,2* Xinhua Shen3,4,5,6 Beibei Hu7 Liping Zhou8,9,10,11
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1 The Emergency Room of Huzhou Third Municipal Hospital, Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang
2 Huzhou Nursing Association, Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang
3 Psychosomatic Medicine Branch, Anxiety and Related Disorders Collaboration Group of the Chinese Medical Association, Anxiety Disorders Research Collaboration Group of the Psychiatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
4 Psychiatrist Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Working Committee, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
5 Psychosomatic Medicine Branch of Zhejiang Medical Association, China
6 Psychiatrist Branch of Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association, Sleep Medicine Professional Committee; Chinese Red Cross (Zhejiang) Psychological Rescue Team; Director, Huzhou Third Municipal Hospital Affiliated to Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang; Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
7 Department of Nursing, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
8 Expert database of the Emergency Committee of the Chinese Nursing Association, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
9 The Emergency Nursing Professional Committee of the Zhejiang Nursing Association, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
10 The Emergency Specialist Nurse Base of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
11 The Emergency Room of Qingchun Hospital of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Submitted: 25 November 2024 | Revised: 8 January 2025 | Accepted: 14 January 2025 | Published: 31 January 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology)
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Alcohol is a highly addictive substance, and long-term alcohol consumption can lead to mental disorders. Many patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) often relapse shortly after receiving treatment following a brief period of abstinence. Identifying the factors influencing relapse is crucial for follow-up treatment and nursing. At present, academic research on AUD and relapse primarily focuses on summarizing clinical symptoms and drug and non-drug treatment methods, with limited analysis of the factors that contribute to relapse. This paper reviews the current understanding of AUD and relapse, along with the assessment tools used, and examines the factors influencing relapse. The aims are to identify key relapse factors in patients with AUD after abstinence and to provide guidance for relevant research, as well as for developing individualized treatment and care plans.

Keywords
Alcohol use disorder
Relapse
Influencing factors
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
Shen Xinhua is an Editorial Board Member of this journal but was not involved in any way in the editorial or peer-review process for this paper, either directly or indirectly. Separately, the other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing