Remission of alcohol disorders in primary care patients. Does diagnosis matter?

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are prevalent in primary care patient populations. Many primary care patients with AUDs can remit without formal treatment. An understanding of the factors that predispose patients to remission may help primary care physicians provide effective brief counseling for those with mild to moderate disorders and more effectively recommend formal treatment for others.

A total of 119 eligible and randomly selected primary care patients with alcohol abuse or dependence in remission (as defined in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition, revised) participated in a semistructured telephone interview.

Of the subjects, 59.7% were women; 50.4% had been alcohol dependent; 66.3% made a conscious decision to modify their drinking; and 62.1%, including 54.2% of the alcohol-dependent subjects, moderated their drinking without abstaining. Family, emotional, and medical issues most often prompted reduced drinking. Nearly one third of the subjects found specific strategies and rules helpful in reducing their drinking, and many cited circumstances that helped or hindered their efforts. Only 10.9% had formal alcohol treatment.

A significant proportion of patients with AUDs remitted without formal treatment. Abstinence may not be necessary for a subset of dependent patients. When counseling patients with active AUDs, primary care clinicians are advised to counsel patients about the psychosocial and medical reasons to control drinking, promote rule-setting about drinking, help patients avoid circumstances that trigger drinking, and support patients' attempts at moderating drinking rather than abstaining. Motivational interviewing (motivational enhancement therapy) may provide a useful framework for such counseling.