Brief alcohol intervention in a psychiatric outpatient setting: a randomized controlled study

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Brief alcohol intervention (BI) is understudied in psychiatric outpatient settings.
• This study explores the utility of BI delivered by clinical psychiatric staff.
• Investigating BI effectiveness in this specific patient population is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of two BI variants on psychiatric outpatients with hazardous or harmful drinking.
• To assess the feasibility and usefulness of BI within a clinical psychiatric setting.
• To determine changes in Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores post-intervention.

Main Methods:

• 150 psychiatric outpatients with elevated AUDIT scores were randomized.
• Interventions included minimal (assessment, feedback, leaflet) or BI (added personalized advice).
• Outcomes were measured at baseline, 6, and 12 months, with AUDIT score change as the primary outcome.

Main Results:

• Both minimal intervention and BI groups showed a small reduction in AUDIT scores at 12 months.
• No statistically significant difference in outcomes was observed between the two intervention groups.
• At 12 months, 21% improved from hazardous to non-hazardous drinking levels, and 8% from harmful to hazardous levels.

Conclusions:

• Brief alcohol interventions can lead to modest reductions in AUDIT scores among psychiatric patients with risky alcohol use.
• BI appears to have some utility in psychiatric outpatient settings.
• More intensive alcohol interventions for at-risk psychiatric patients warrant further investigation.