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Inpatient Treatment for Pathological Gamblers in Germany: Setting, Utilization, and Structure

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Abstract

In Germany, there are two different approaches to inpatient treatment of pathological gambling (PG): Facilities focusing on addiction or on psychosomatic illness. However, little is known about how these differences influence utilization and structure of treatment. Therefore, in our study, we analyzed all known German gambling inpatient treatment centers concerning patients’ sex, age and number of comorbid disorders and evaluated an expert assessment of the treatment system, access to treatment, and structure characteristics of inpatient treatment facilities. In 2011, 2,229 pathological gamblers were treated. This amounts to 1 % of all past-year pathological gamblers. 90 % of the patients were men, 93 % had at least one comorbid disorder. Access to treatment was mostly gained via psychosocial counseling centers, but was not readily available. Facilities with addiction departments treated less pathological gamblers per year (29.3 gamblers) than facilities with psychosomatic departments (53.3 gamblers) or with both departments (76.4 gamblers). Treatment duration was significantly longer in addiction departments treating PG as secondary diagnosis only, with a low rate of gamblers on all patients, or treating few gamblers. Some facilities specialized on PG and treated more gamblers, had a higher rate of gamblers on all patients, and offered specific treatment programs. The impact of this specialization on treatment outcome is still unclear. Although treatment numbers have risen steadily for the past years, only a small fraction of affected gamblers seek inpatient treatment. Therefore, awareness to the disease and access to treatment needs to be improved.

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Notes

  1. The first state treaty on gambling prohibited internet gambling in all federal states in Germany. The situation changed with the amendment of the state treaty on gambling in 2012: Certain types of internet gambling, namely lottery and sports betting, can be distributed via internet by state-licensed providers. As of yet, the granting of licenses is still in progress.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Public Health in the context of the “Landesstelle Glücksspielsucht in Bayern”. The authors thank Thomas Bütefisch from the German Statutory Pension Insurance Scheme for the special evaluation F63.0.

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The authors have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bavarian Academy for Addiction and Health Issues (Bayerische Akademie für Sucht- und Gesundheitsfragen BAS), Landwehrstraße 60-62, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Ursula Gisela Buchner, Beate Erbas, Marco Stürmer & Melanie Arnold

  2. Department of Psychology, Otto-Friedrich-University, Bamberg, Germany

    Ursula Gisela Buchner & Jörg Wolstein

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Norbert Wodarz

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  1. Ursula Gisela Buchner
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  2. Beate Erbas
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Correspondence to Ursula Gisela Buchner.

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Buchner, U.G., Erbas, B., Stürmer, M. et al. Inpatient Treatment for Pathological Gamblers in Germany: Setting, Utilization, and Structure. J Gambl Stud 31, 257–279 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9430-5

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