Encouraging GPs to undertake screening and a brief intervention in order to reduce problem drinking: a randomized...

GPs are in a key position to screen the population for problem drinking. However, so far this has not been extensively undertaken in general practice. Thus, studies relating to encouraging the undertaking in general practice of screening and initiating a brief intervention for problem drinking are needed.

We aimed to compare three approaches direct mail, telephone contact and academic detailing to encourage GPs to undertake screening and a brief intervention (SBI) for problem drinking.

A total of 143 GPs in Copenhagen County were randomly assigned to the three approaches. The outcome measures were the proportion of GPs who requested the SBI package (uptake rate) and the fraction of GPs who started using the package (utilization rate). The costs of each approach were calculated.

Compared with the direct mailing approach, uptake rates were significantly higher among GPs approached by telephone (30 versus 72%; P = 0.0001) and in the academic detailing approach (30 versus 67%; P = 0.0006). There was no significant difference between telephone contact and academic detailing (72 versus 67%; P = 0.75). There was a higher utilization rate in the academic detailing approach than in telephone contact (61 versus 31%; P = 0.023). There was no significant difference between direct mail and telephone contact (57 versus 31%; P = 0.16) or between direct mail and academic detailing (57 versus 61%; P = 0.95). The respective costs of the telephone and academic detailing approaches were 10 and 16 times that of the direct mailing approach.

Telephone contact and academic detailing are more effective than direct mail in encouraging GPs to request an SBI package, but GPs who were approached by academic detailing were more likely to have utilized the package than GPs who were approached by telephone. The relatively high uptake and utilization rates obtained in the academic detailing approach suggest that this approach is to be preferred in encouraging a rapid uptake of SBI among GPs. However, the high costs associated with this approach need to be taken into consideration.