Seeking Treatment for Gambling - a 10-year Retrospective Clinical and Register Study of Gambling Patterns and Physical and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Patients With Gambling Disorder

March 18, 2026 updated by: Anders C Håkansson, Region Skane
Retrospective chart review and register study of all patients who sought treatment at Region Skåne gambling disorder treatment unit, from December, 2015, through November, 2025. Patients' problematic gambling patterns, gambling self-exclusion behaviour and existing comorbidities and medications, are studied in association with routes of referral, prior treatment contacts and diagnoses for mental and physical disorders in primary care and specialist care.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

For all patients seeking treatment during the full 10-year history of the facility (December, 2015-November, 2025), the following variables are gathered and described and studied with respect to associations with one another:

  • Age
  • Legal gender
  • Tobacco use and alcohol problems requiring treatment
  • Problematic gambling type(s), such as sports betting, online casino, horse race betting, land-based electronic gambling machines, bingo, and gambling within videogames.
  • History of voluntary self-exclusion from gambling on the Swedish nationwide system for self-exclusion from licensed gambling operators (the so-called 'Spelpaus' system)
  • Living conditions (housing) and socio-economic conditions (over-indebtedness, history of enforcement agency contacts, granted debt settlement)
  • Current employment status (unemployed, degree of employment)
  • Co-morbid psychiatric and physical disorders
  • Prescribed medications
  • Emergency hospital visits for mental health disorders (at psychiatric emergency units)
  • In-patient psychiatric treatment episodes (including duration of hospitalisations)
  • Routes of referral to the gambling disorder treatment unit (self-referral, primary care, occupational health care, psychiatric units, social services, health care unit for physical disease, or other units)

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1200

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Malmo, Sweden, 20502
        • Malmö Addiction Center, Gambling disorder treatment unit

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients seeking treatment at the Gambling disorder treatment unit of Region Skåne, Malmö, Sweden, Dec, 2015-Nov, 2025

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients seeking treatment at the Gambling disorder treatment unit of Region Skåne, Malmö, Sweden, Dec, 2015-Nov, 2025

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Treatment occasions considered, after chart review, to not have detected any need for problem gambling assessment or intervention.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Patients seeking treatment at the Gambling disorder treatment unit of Region Skåne, Sweden
Behavioral: Treatment uptake
Initiation of assessment/treatment in treatment-seeking individuals.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Longitudinal change in clinical picture.
Time Frame: Full observational period (10 years).
Longitudinal change in clinical picture with respect to gambling pattern, self-exclusion behavior, physical and psychiatric comorbidity, routes of treatment seeking, and need for emergency/in-patient care.
Full observational period (10 years).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Region Skane

Collaborators

Lund University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 9, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 23, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 10-year gambling unit study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Because data are confidential health care documentation which cannot legally be shared with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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