Alcohol-Related Problems in the Primary Health Care Setting: a review of early intervention strategies

Summary This paper reviews conceptual issues and research findings relevant to the secondary prevention of alcohol‐related problems in the primary care setting. A discussion of public health concepts and recent epidemiological studies is followed by a review of screening procedures developed to iden...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Journal of Addiction 1986-01, Vol.81 (1), p.23-46
Main Authors: BABOR, THOMAS F., RITSON, E. BRUCE, HODGSON, RAY J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol Drinking
Alcoholism - complications
Alcoholism - prevention & control
Biological and medical sciences
Humans
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - prevention & control
Medical sciences
Mental health
Primary Health Care
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Risk
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
United Kingdom
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Summary:Summary This paper reviews conceptual issues and research findings relevant to the secondary prevention of alcohol‐related problems in the primary care setting. A discussion of public health concepts and recent epidemiological studies is followed by a review of screening procedures developed to identify individuals at risk. Representative programmes designed to reduce alcohol misuse and treat harmful drinking are summarized. The results of several systematic programme evaluations suggest that modest but reliable effects on drinking behaviour and related problems can follow from brief interventions, especially with the less serious type of problem drinker. The basic elements of these interventions include information giving, brief advice, self‐help manuals, self‐help groups and periodic monitoring of progress by the health worker. It is concluded that low intensity, brief interventions have much to recommend as the first approach to the problem drinker in the primary care setting.
ISSN:0952-0481
0965-2140
2056-5178
DOI:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1986.tb00291.x