Brief Intervention for Problem Drinkers in a Chinese Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial in a Hospital Setting

Abstract

Background: Alcohol is a legal and accessible substance in Taiwan. As excessive alcohol has been linked to health and social problems, it is necessary to develop a brief, rapid, and low‐cost tool to help health care providers deal with persons in Taiwan whose alcohol consumption has become hazardous or harmful to their health.Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial with 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups was designed. Eighteen medical/surgical units at a medical center in northern Taiwan were randomly assigned to 2 groups: experimental (n = 9) and control (n = 9). Inpatients on the units were enrolled if they met the following criteria: were older than 18 years, had no severe psychiatric illness, and were not pregnant. The experimental group (n = 138) received the intervention, a 15‐minute counseling visit in which nurses screened participants using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), provided a health promotion booklet for adults, and individually discussed the booklet contents with patients based on their drinking level (AUDIT score). The control group (n = 137) received no treatment. Patterns of alcohol consumption were determined by AUDIT scores at baseline, 6, and 12 months later.Results: Alcohol use disorders identification test scores decreased significantly in both groups at 6 months after the intervention, but did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, 12 months after the brief alcohol intervention, experimental subjects’ AUDIT scores were significantly better than those of the control group.Conclusions: Our brief alcohol intervention provided a 12‐month benefit for problem drinkers in Taiwan.

Tobacco-Smoking, Alcohol-Drinking, and Betel-Quid-Chewing Behaviors: Development and Use of a Web-Based Survey System (Preprint)

“…However, no information is available from studies conducted in western countries for the prevalence of alcohol-drinking problems among family members of these patients. Our patient sample's prevalence of hazardous/harmful/dependent drinkers is consistent with that for patients' alcohol-drinking problems in Taiwan's general hospitals, i.e., 5.7% to 19.2%, depending on the unit selected [15,16]. However, our finding on patients' family members'/friends' hazardous/harmful/dependent-drinking prevalence (5.6%) is much lower than that of hazardous alcohol-drinking problems among family members of patients with alcohol-drinking problems in Taiwan (13.3%) [37].…”

“…To manage the drinking behavior of individuals with hazardous and harmful drinking, a brief intervention [15] has proven to be effective in a Taiwanese hospital-patient population [15,22]. This brief intervention is offered to problem drinkers at four levels, based on their AUDIT score [22].…”

“…As a result, drinking problems are easily ignored. In Taiwan's general hospitals, where the prevalence of patients' alcohol-drinking problems (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT] score 8) ranges from 5.7% to 19.2% due to different units selected [15,16]. In addition, chewing betel quid is part of traditional culture and is often offered during many social occasions in Taiwan [17].…”

“…In Taiwan, adults' smoking rate dropped from 32.5% in 1990 to 15.3% in 2016, but there were still 3.13 million tobacco smokers (individuals who smoked > 100 cigarettes to date and had smoked in the last 30 days) [13]. Alcohol, which is legally accessible in Taiwan, plays an important role in Chinese culture as it is viewed as an acceptable drink to relieve stress and enhance socialization [14].…”

A Randomized Phase I Trial of a Brief Computer-Delivered Intervention for Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

“…A recent study assessing a brief intervention in problem drinkers found no effects of treatment at the 6-month follow-up but demonstrated significant effects of treatment at the 12-month follow-up. 42 Evidence for the delayed effects of brief interventions for alcohol use within a primary care setting was also noted in a meta-analysis. 11 It must be noted, however, that other meta-analyses have suggested that the effect of motivational interventions may peak early and dissipate quickly over time.…”