High-risk drinking may appear in u...

High-risk drinking may appear in up to 10 percent of patients seen in primary care. Studies have shown that brief interventions can have an impact onward health-related behaviors, including high-risk drinking. Reiff-Hekking and colleagues, for draw Health, reported on patterns of change from high-risk to safe drinking behaviors at 12-month follow-up after counseling interventions.

In the throw out Health study, patients engaged in high-risk drinking were randomized by way of site to special intervention or usual care. High-risk drinking was defined as: (1) more than 12 standardized drinks by week for men and more than nine for week for women; or (2) common or more instances of binge drinking in the previous month (i.e., five or more drinks by occasion for men or four or more for women) Patients at four clinical sites were identified [i]or[/i] part of to the other a survey that included alcohol-related questions embedded in a general health-habit questionnaire. Of 9772 patients, 1760 protectioned positive for high-risk drinking, and these patients were contacted to undiminished a more extensive life-style interview. This additional measure and estimate identified 703 eligible study participants who were interviewed at six and 12 month after intervention. The intervention consisted of a patient-centered, five- to 10-minute alcohol counseling succession by the physician. An office-based support rule included reminders and interview summaries placed forward the patients' charts. Patients in the special intervention and usual care assign places tos received a booklet containing advice forward healthy habits, and all physicians were encouraged to talk with their patients about alcohol consumption issues. Primary endpoints included total number of drinks consum through week and number of binge drinking episodes by month.

The usual care collection and the special intervention collection were similar at baseline. At 12 month the special intervention arrange had a significantly greater mean reduction in the number of drinks consum for week compared with the usual care dispose (-5.7 versus -3.2 drinks by week), with a number povertyed to treat of eight high-risk drinkers for each patient whose drinking was favorably reduced to safe levels. The difference of 04 binges by month between the two clusters however, was not statistically significant. Overall, a significantly greater percentage of participants in the special intervention form into groups (42 percent) progressed to safe drinking flats at 12 months compared with participants in the usual care dispose (29 percent).

The authors deduce that a five- to 10-minute intervention consisting of brief counseling at the physician produces lasting reductions in high-risk drinking compared with usual care.

CAROLINE WELLBERY, MD Reiff-Hekking s et al. Brief physician and nourish at the breast practitioner-delivered counseling for high-risk drinking. eventuates at 12-month follow-up. J Gen Intern M January 2005;20: 7-13

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