Efficacy of physician-delivered brief counselling intervention for binge drinkers: randomised controlled trial in primary care practice

Completed

Conditions: High-risk alcohol drinkers
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol

Registration Number: ISRCTN10111467

Lead Sponsor: Brain and Mind Foundation (Fundacion Cerebro y Mente) (Spain)

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 752

Inclusion Criteria

All adults patients aged 18 to 65 years of age will be asked to undergo alcohol use disorders screening (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT]) (Rubio et al., 1998) by their primary care physicians (PCPh). All patients who screen positive will be contacted and invited to participate in a face-to-face interview to determine their eligibility for the trial. Patients will be eligible for the randomised trial if they report a pattern of binge drinking and score 15 or lower on the AUDIT (scores above 15 were referred to the Drug Abuse Programme for Treatment). Patients eligible for the study will be binge drinkers, defined as men who had drunk 5 or more standard drinks per occasion (12.8 g of alcohol per drink) on 1 or more occasions in the previous month. Women will be included in the study sample if they had drunk 4 or more standard drinks per occasion on 1 or more occasions in the previous month.

Rubio, G., Bermejo, J., Caballero, C., Santo-Domingo, J. Validación del test de identificación de trastornos por uso de alcohol (AUDIT) en atención primaria (Spanish validation of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT] in primary care). Rev Clin Esp 1998; 198: 11-14.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Pregnant women
2. Plan to move out of the area within the year
3. Do not have a telephone
4. Those who are already participating in an alcohol intervention programme
5. Those who have an Axis I psychiatric disorder (American Psychiatric Association [APA] 2000) other than substance abuse that, in the judgment of the PCPh, prevents them from participating
6. Unable to complete the informed consent

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in alcohol use: number of binge episodes (>5 drinks for men and >4 drinks for women on a single occasion) in the previous month and the percentage of bingers, assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in weekly alcohol consumption and rates of excessive drinking in the previous 7 days (more than 18 drinks per week for men and more than 13 drinks per week for women), assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.