In California, problem gamblers can receive no-cost treatment through CalGETS. Of the 879 problem gamblers who entered outpatient treatment in Fiscal Year 2016-17, 333 also provided end-of-treatment data. We analyzed Intake to End-of-Treatment changes for those 333 clients.
Problem gamblers’ urge to gamble decreased after CalGETS treatment by 27 points (on a 100 point scale). This improvement in their urge to gamble was statistically significant.
Source – Outpatient Gamblers: CalGETS Fiscal Year 2016-17 dataset, prepared for the California Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling by the University of California Los Angeles Gambling Studies Program. CalGETS treatment participants were asked: “On a scale from 1 to 100, over the last 7 days, how strong are your urges to gamble?” The improvement in gambling urge from Intake to End of Treatment was significant (p < .0001, N=333) using the paired samples t-test.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.