Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that some medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use may benefit from a brief intervention.
The BUSM study appears in the May issue of Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs .
"Brief intervention shows promise for increasing receipt of treatment among alcohol-dependent women, particularly those with higher cognitive functioning or an alcohol- attributable diagnosis," said lead author Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, FASAM, professor of medicine and epidemiology at BUSM and director of the Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. "The intervention also shows promise for younger men with dependence and for decreasing consumption among those with nondependent, unhealthy alcohol use."
Screening and brief intervention for all adults with unhealthy alcohol use is recommended. Brief intervention has proven efficacy in decreasing alcohol consumption and related consequences only in outpatients with unhealthy, but not dependent alcohol use. In the few inpatient studies on brief intervention, results were generally negative, making it likely that brief intervention has efficacy only in certain people and settings.