Citation

Fleming M, Manwell LB. Alcohol Res. Health 1999; 23(2): 128-137.

Affiliation

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10890807

Abstract

Primary health care providers identify and treat many patients who are at risk for or are already experiencing alcohol-related problems. Brief interventions--counseling delivered by primary care providers in the context of several standard office visits--can be a successful treatment approach for many of these patients. Numerous trials involving a variety of patient populations have indicated that brief interventions can reduce patients' drinking levels, regardless of the patients' ages and gender. In clinical practice, brief interventions can help reduce the drinking levels of nondependent drinkers who drink more than the recommended limits, facilitate therapy and abstinence in patients receiving pharmacotherapy, and enhance the effectiveness of assessment and treatment referral in patients who do not respond to brief interventions alone. Despite the evidence for their usefulness, however, brief interventions for alcohol-related problems have not yet been widely implemented in primary care settings.

Language: en