Randomized-Controlled Trial of a Telephone and Mail Intervention for Alcohol Use Disorders: Three-Month Drinking OutcomesAlcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles). 5 June 2007
Alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to specialized treatment (ASBIR) reduce drinking and related harms. Unanswered questions are how to manage nondependent patients with poor response to brief interventions, how to manage dependent patients who do not obtain treatment, and how to ensure population-wide delivery of ASBIR. Telephone-administered counseling may provide answers.
We conducted a 12-month randomized controlled trial of a telephone and mail intervention for non-treatment–seeking primary care patients with alcohol use disorders.
Following systematic screening, a six-session telephone and mail intervention is more effective than a pamphlet in reducing drinking at 3 months for non-treatment–seeking men with alcohol abuse and dependence.
An intervention effect of the enrollment procedures may have obscured further intervention effectiveness.
Telephone counseling shows promise for non-treatment–seeking primary care patients with alcohol use disorders.
Reprint Request E-mail: rlbrown@wisc.edu
