The 2020 Cochrane review of AA has been released

The 2020 Cochrane review of AA efficacy has finally been released. Unlike the old 2006 review, which stated that “available experimental studies did not demonstrate the effectiveness of AA or other twelve-step approaches in reducing alcohol use and achieving abstinence compared with other treatments”, the new 2020 Cochrane review has this to say:

clinically-delivered TSF [twelve-step facilitation] interventions designed to increase AA participation usually lead to better outcomes over the subsequent months to years in terms of producing higher rates of continuous abstinence

Looking at the study, the strongest data shows that Alcoholics Anonymous significantly increases abstinent rates: When comparing Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Twelve Step Facilitation to other alcohol use disorder interventions, at the 12-month follow up, studies show a 41.8% abstinent rate for AA/TSF treatments, compared to 34.5% abstinent using non-AA interventions.

The New York Times, in an article about this review, has this to say:

A.A. leads to increased rates and lengths of abstinence compared with other common treatments

While the full review is behind a paywall, its summary is freely available for anyone to read.

This is the final nail in the coffin for the “AA has a 5% success rate” nonsense the media was spreading around in the mid-2010s.