Screening for hazardous drinking in a population of well women

Previous research suggests that only about 15% of people who experience alcohol problems come to the notice of healthcare providers. Research has also shown that there is often a failure among healthcare providers to identify alcohol problems in patients whose primary presentation is not overtly alcohol related. It has been implied that this failure is contributed to by a lack of training and support on the part of the organization. This article reports on a project in which a group of health visitors were trained in a brief method of screening for and intervention with alcohol problems and then supported in identifying and intervening with women among their caseload who were drinking at unsafe levels. The sample comprised 430 'well women' between the ages of 18 and 45 years, with no known previous or current alcohol-related problem. All the women were on the caseloads of health visitors in one health board area and all women had children under the age of 16 years. It was found at screening that 13% of the sample consumed more than 14 units of alcohol per week. Consumption was measured 6 months after one session of minimal intervention, and it was found that 92% of the intervention group reduced their alcohol consumption. Mean consumption had decreased by 55%, from 21.11 units to 9.24 units per week. Among those women whose drinking had been at levels which were potentially problematic (capable of sustaining physical, psychological or social problems due to alcohol consumption), the mean weekly amount consumed decreased by 59% from 30.7 units weekly to 12.43 units.