• Jessica Storbjörk.
• Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs (SoRAD), Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Drug Alcohol Rev. 2014 Nov 1; 33 (6): 604-11.

Introduction And AimsIt has been acknowledged that participants in clinical trials differ from real-world service users, primarily due to the extensive use of research eligibility criteria (EC). Generalisability and outcome bias become pressing issues when evidence-based treatment guidelines, crystallised from outcome research, influence treatment provision. This study reports on the effects of EC on generalisability and short- and long-term outcomes among real-world treatment-seekers.Design And MethodsTen of the most commonly used EC were operationalised and applied to a large representative service user sample (n = 1125) from Stockholm County, Sweden, to determine the percentage of real-world problem alcohol users that would have been excluded by each EC and the extent to which EC bias the 1 and 6-year alcohol outcomes.ResultsIndividual EC excluded between 5% and 80% of real-world service users and 96% would have been excluded by at least one EC. Most of the EC introduced a positive/upwards bias in 1- and 6-year outcomes. Most notably, the removal of the unmotivated/non-compliant service users caused an upwards bias that would considerably boost estimates of treatment effectiveness. Other bias effects were smaller. Six-year effects were generally higher than for 1 year.Discussion And ConclusionsOutcome studies that exclude complex and non-compliant cases are not representative of real-world service users, and thus effectiveness estimates from clinical trials are biased by several commonly used EC. EC should be used judiciously and be taken into account in practice guidelines. This burgeoning research area should be further developed. [Storbjörk J. Implications of enrolment eligibility criteria in alcohol treatment outcome research: Generalisability and potential bias in 1- and 6-year outcomes. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:604-11].© 2014 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

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