The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Pharmacological Treatment of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

Rationale

The goal of this guideline is to improve the quality of care and treatment outcomes for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD), as defined by DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association 2013). The guideline focuses specifically on evidence-based pharmacological treatments for AUD but also includes statements related to assessment and treatment planning that are an integral part of using pharmacotherapy to treat AUD. AUD pharmacotherapy is a topic of increasing interest given the burden of AUD in the population and the availability of several U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications for this disorder. For these reasons, the AHRQ undertook a systematic review of AUD pharmacotherapy in outpatients (Jonas et al. 2014), which serves as the foundation of the systematic review for this practice guideline. The guideline does not apply to the use of these same medications for indications other than AUD. It also does not address the management of individuals who are intoxicated with alcohol, who require pharmacotherapy for the acute treatment of alcohol withdrawal, or who are experiencing other acute medical problems related to alcohol use. Evidence-based psychotherapeutic treatments for AUD, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), twelve-step facilitation (TSF), and motivational enhancement therapy (MET) (Anton et al. 2006; Martin and Rehm 2012; Project MATCH Research Group 1998b), also play a major role in the treatment of AUD, but specific recommendations related to these modalities are outside the scope of this guideline.