Predicting treatment-outcome in cocaine dependence from admission urine drug screen and peripheral serotonergic measures

We investigated whether urine drug screens (UDS) at admission and platelet paroxetine binding, a measure of serotonin transporter sites, were related to outcome measures for cocaine patients in treatment. Tritiated paroxetine binding sites on platelets were assayed and UDS were obtained for 105 African American cocaine-dependent outpatients. Outcome measures included number of negative urines, days in treatment, dropouts, and number of treatment sessions attended. A significant association was found between cocaine-positive UDS at admission and negative urines, treatment retention, dropouts, and treatment sessions; while Bmax values of paroxetine binding (density of serotonin transporter sites) were significantly associated with treatment retention and negative urines. Moreover, UDS and paroxetine binding combined to enhance prediction of retention and abstinence. Although both admission UDS and paroxetine binding seem to contribute individually in predicting outcome of cocaine patients, a combination of the two variables seems to have a stronger effect in terms of predicting treatment-outcome.