Dataset Information

Randomised controlled trial of a brief alcohol intervention in a general hospital setting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The evidence suggests that brief alcohol-focused interventions, directed at hazardous and harmful drinkers in non-specialist settings such as primary care are effective in reducing alcohol consumption. However, there is a need for further research in the hospital setting. This is a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of a 10-minute brief intervention amongst 'at risk' drinkers admitted to general hospital wards. Unlike some previous trials, this trial is randomised, used blinded assessors, includes an intention-to-treat analysis, included female subjects and excluded people with alcohol dependence.

Methods

A total of 250 'at risk' drinkers admitted to King's College Hospital were identified using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Some 154 subjects entered the study and were randomly allocated to the control and intervention groups. Subjects in the control group received no advice about their drinking whilst subjects in the intervention group received 10 minutes of simple advice on reducing alcohol consumption. Recruitment took place between 1995 and 1997. The primary outcome was the AUDIT questionnaire at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were a previous week's Drinks Diary, questionnaires (General Health Questionnaire, Alcohol Problems Questionnaire and the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire) and laboratory blood tests (gamma glutamyl transferase, mean cell volume and haemoglobin).

Results

At 3-month and 12-month follow-up, all participants were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At both time points there was no evidence of an intervention effect that could be attributed to the brief intervention. Both the intervention and control groups had an improved AUDIT score and reduced levels of alcohol consumption as measured by a subjective Drinks Diary at 3 months which was maintained at 12 months.

Conclusions

This study has added further evidence on brief interventions in the hospital setting. In contrast to the recent Cochrane review by McQueen et al., the results of this study do not support the effectiveness of a brief alcohol intervention in general hospital wards. However our study was underpowered and there were flaws in the statistical analyses, and these limitations temper the strength of our conclusions.

SUBMITTER: Shiles CJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4016505 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Randomised controlled trial of a brief alcohol intervention in a general hospital setting.

Shiles Celia J CJ Canning Una P UP Kennell-Webb Sandra A SA Gunstone Caroline M CM Marshall E Jane EJ Peters Timothy J TJ Wessely Simon C SC

Trials 20131022

<h4>Background</h4>The evidence suggests that brief alcohol-focused interventions, directed at hazardous and harmful drinkers in non-specialist settings such as primary care are effective in reducing alcohol consumption. However, there is a need for further research in the hospital setting. This is a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of a 10-minute brief intervention amongst 'at risk' drinkers admitted to general hospital wards. Unlike some previous trials, this trial ...[more]

PMID: 24148799

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Project description:BackgroundAlcohol misuse in England costs around £7.3 billion (US$12.2 billion) annually from lost productivity and absenteeism. Delivering brief alcohol interventions to employees as part of a health check may be acceptable, particularly with online delivery which can provide privacy for this stigmatised behaviour. Research to support this approach is limited and methodologically weak. The aim was to determine the effectiveness of online screening and personalised feedback on alcohol consumption, delivered in a workplace as part of a health check.Methods and findingsThis two-group online individually randomised controlled trial recruited employees from a UK-based private sector organisation (approx. 100,000 employees). 3,375 employees completed the online health check in the three week recruitment period. Of these, 1,330 (39%) scored five or more on the AUDIT-C (indicating alcohol misuse) and were randomised to receive personalised feedback on their alcohol intake, alongside feedback on other health behaviours (n = 659), or to receive feedback on all health behaviours except alcohol intake (n = 671). Participants were mostly male (75%), with a median age of 48 years and half were in managerial positions (55%). Median Body Mass Index was 26, 12% were smokers, median time undertaking moderate/vigorous physical activity a week was 173 minutes and median fruit and vegetable consumption was three portions a day. Eighty percent (n = 1,066) of participants completed follow-up questionnaires at three months. An intention to treat analysis found no difference between experimental groups for past week drinking (primary outcome) (5.6% increase associated with the intervention (95% CI -4.7% to 16.9%; p = .30)), AUDIT (measure of alcohol-related harm) and health utility (EQ-5D).ConclusionsThere was no evidence to support the use of personalised feedback within an online health check for reducing alcohol consumption among employees in this organisation. Further research is needed on how to engage a larger proportion of employees in screening.Trial registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register ISRCTN50658915.

Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of different brief intervention strategies at reducing hazardous or harmful drinking in primary care. The hypothesis was that more intensive intervention would result in a greater reduction in hazardous or harmful drinking.DesignPragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial.SettingPrimary care practices in the north east and south east of England and in London.Participants3562 patients aged 18 or more routinely presenting in primary care, of whom 2991 (84.0%) were eligible to enter the trial: 900 (30.1%) screened positive for hazardous or harmful drinking and 756 (84.0%) received a brief intervention. The sample was predominantly male (62%) and white (92%), and 34% were current smokers.InterventionsPractices were randomised to three interventions, each of which built on the previous one: a patient information leaflet control group, five minutes of structured brief advice, and 20 minutes of brief lifestyle counselling. Delivery of the patient leaflet and brief advice occurred directly after screening and brief lifestyle counselling in a subsequent consultation.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was patients' self reported hazardous or harmful drinking status as measured by the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) at six months. A negative AUDIT result (score <8) indicated non-hazardous or non-harmful drinking. Secondary outcomes were a negative AUDIT result at 12 months, experience of alcohol related problems (alcohol problems questionnaire), health utility (EQ-5D), service utilisation, and patients' motivation to change drinking behaviour (readiness to change) as measured by a modified readiness ruler.ResultsPatient follow-up rates were 83% at six months (n=644) and 79% at 12 months (n=617). At both time points an intention to treat analysis found no significant differences in AUDIT negative status between the three interventions. Compared with the patient information leaflet group, the odds ratio of having a negative AUDIT result for brief advice was 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.52 to 1.39) and for brief lifestyle counselling was 0.78 (0.48 to 1.25). A per protocol analysis confirmed these findings.ConclusionsAll patients received simple feedback on their screening outcome. Beyond this input, however, evidence that brief advice or brief lifestyle counselling provided important additional benefit in reducing hazardous or harmful drinking compared with the patient information leaflet was lacking.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN06145674.

Project description:IntroductionAlcohol consumption is the seventh leading risk factor for disability-adjusted life years in the world, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. As the largest developing country, China has a substantial population of alcohol consumers who suffer from related health risks. Despite having made significant advancements in eradicating absolute poverty, many people still live in relative poverty, which suggests that the adverse health effects caused by alcohol consumption among vulnerable populations in China warrant more attention. This paper aims to provide an overview of alcohol consumption among ethnic populations in China and test the feasibility and efficacy of a brief advice intervention with a small financial incentive in reducing harmful drinking behaviours.MethodsThis study is a three-arm, single-blinded, pragmatic, individually randomised controlled trial with follow-ups at 1,2 and 3 months after randomisation. A total of 440 daily drinkers living in Xichang will be recruited and divided into three groups: brief intervention group, financial incentive group and control group. All participants will receive a urine ethyl glucuronide (EtG) test, which detects alcohol consumption in the past 80 hours. Additionally, participants in the brief intervention group will receive three free counselling sessions alongside multimedia messages on the topic of alcohol consumption after each session. The participants in the financial incentive group will receive the same interventions as well as cash incentives according to the results of the EtG test. The primary outcomes are the self-reported drinking quantity, binge drinking frequency, drinking intensity and the proportion of participants who pass the EtG test.Ethics and disseminationThis protocol was approved by the Peking University Health Science Center Institutional Review Board (IRB00001052-20049). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at local, national and international conferences to publicise and explain the research to key audiences.Trial registration numberNCT04999371.

Project description:BackgroundSocial equity in the efficacy of behavior change intervention is much needed. While the efficacy of brief alcohol interventions (BAIs), including digital interventions, is well established, particularly in health care, the social equity of interventions has been sparsely investigated.ObjectiveWe aim to investigate whether the efficacy of computer-based versus in-person delivered BAIs is moderated by the participants' socioeconomic status (ie, to identify whether general hospital patients with low-level education and unemployed patients may benefit more or less from one or the other way of delivery compared to patients with higher levels of education and those that are employed).MethodsPatients with nondependent at-risk alcohol use were identified through systematic offline screening conducted on 13 general hospital wards. Patients were approached face-to-face and asked to respond to an app for self-assessment provided by a mobile device. In total, 961 (81% of eligible participants) were randomized and received their allocated intervention: computer-generated and individually tailored feedback letters (CO), in-person counseling by research staff trained in motivational interviewing (PE), or assessment only (AO). CO and PE were delivered on the ward and 1 and 3 months later, were based on the transtheoretical model of intentional behavior change and required the assessment of intervention data prior to each intervention. In CO, the generation of computer-based feedback was created automatically. The assessment of data and sending out feedback letters were assisted by the research staff. Of the CO and PE participants, 89% (345/387) and 83% (292/354) received at least two doses of intervention, and 72% (280/387) and 54% (191/354) received all three doses of intervention, respectively. The outcome was change in grams of pure alcohol per day after 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, with the latter being the primary time-point of interest. Follow-up interviewers were blinded. Study group interactions with education and employment status were tested as predictors of change in alcohol use using latent growth modeling.ResultsThe efficacy of CO and PE did not differ by level of education (P=.98). Employment status did not moderate CO efficacy (Ps≥.66). Up to month 12 and compared to employed participants, unemployed participants reported significantly greater drinking reductions following PE versus AO (incidence rate ratio 0.44, 95% CI 0.21-0.94; P=.03) and following PE versus CO (incidence rate ratio 0.48, 95% CI 0.24-0.96; P=.04). After 24 months, these differences were statistically nonsignificant (Ps≥.31).ConclusionsComputer-based and in-person BAI worked equally well independent of the patient's level of education. Although findings indicate that in the short-term, unemployed persons may benefit more from BAI when delivered in-person rather than computer-based, the findings suggest that both BAIs have the potential to work well among participants with low socioeconomic status.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01291693; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01291693.

Dataset Information

Randomised controlled trial of a brief alcohol intervention in a general hospital setting.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Randomised controlled trial of a brief alcohol intervention in a general hospital setting.

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