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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on February 7, 2005
Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh137
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Alcohol & Alcoholism © Medical Council on Alcohol 2005; all rights reserved
Received July 21, 2004
Revised January 5, 2005
Accepted January 6, 2005

Article

ADDING PSYCHOLOGIST'S INTERVENTION TO PHYSICIANS' ADVICE TO PROBLEM DRINKERS IN THE OUTPATIENT CLINIC

M. J. EMMEN 1*, G. M. SCHIPPERS 1, H. WOLLERSHEIM 2, and G. BLEIJENBERG 3

1 Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, Overschiestraat 65, 1062 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 Centre for Quality of Care Research, UMC St Radboud Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
3 Expert Centre for Chronic Fatigue, UMC St Radboud Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
M. J. EMMEN, E-mail: emmen{at}aiar.nl


  Abstract

Aims: To test the effectiveness of a brief psychological intervention for problem drinking among outpatients in a hospital setting. Methods: Over a period of 3 years physicians screened patients who visited an outpatient clinic for general internal medicine for problem drinking. Of the 4728 patients screened, 284 (6%) scored positive on problem drinking of whom 123 participated in the study. They received a computerized baseline assessment and were randomly allocated to a brief psychosocial intervention given by a psychologist (Dutch version of W. R. Millers' Drinker's Check-Up) (n = 61) or to ‘care as usual’ (n = 62). They were followed up at 6 months. The outcome measures were alcohol consumption and the increase in motivation to reduce alcohol consumption. Results: Most patients reduced their alcohol consumption over time, but no differences were found between the intervention and control groups. A slightly, but not significantly, larger proportion of patients who received the intervention increased their motivation to change. Conclusions: No conclusive evidence was found for the effectiveness of adding a brief psychological intervention to the physician's advice for problem drinking among outpatients in a hospital setting.


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