Sensitivity analysis indicates that from both perspectives the service is very cost effective and may be cost saving .
CONCLUSIONS These results make alcohol screening and counseling one of the highest-ranking preventive services among the 25 effective services evaluated using st and ardized methods .
BACKGROUND The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force ( USPSTF ) has recommended screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care to reduce alcohol misuse .
This study was design ed to develop a st and ardized rating for the clinical ly preventable burden and cost effectiveness of complying with that recommendation that would allow comparisons across many recommended services .
Effects of two types of brief intervention and readiness to change on alcohol use in hazardous drinkers.
OBJECTIVE Brief interventions for hazardous and low-dependent drinkers in the primary care setting have considerable empirical support . The purpose of this study was to ( 1 ) evaluate the effects of brief advice ( BA ) and motivational enhancement ( ME ) interventions on alcohol consumption . In addition , a hindsight matching design was used to ( 2 ) study the moderator effects of patient readiness to change ( alcohol use ) on alcohol consumption . METHOD The subjects ( N = 301 , 70 % men ) were patients 21 years of age or older who presented for treatment at one of 12 primary care clinics . After screening for eligibility and providing consent to participate in the study , the patients completed a baseline assessment and were r and omly assigned to the BA , ME or st and ard care ( SC ) interventions condition . Follow-up assessment s were completed at 1- , 3- , 6- , 9- and 12-months postbaseline assessment . RESULTS Evaluation of the first hypothesis ( n = 232 for these analyses ) showed that all participants tended to reduce their alcohol use considerably between the baseline and 12-month assessment s. In addition , evaluation of the second hypothesis showed a moderator effect of readiness to change in predicting the number of drinks at 12 months , such that the BA intervention seemed more effective for patients relatively low in readiness to change compared to those higher in readiness . Readiness to change did not seem to be related to changes in drinking of participants in the SC or ME conditions . CONCLUSIONS The results confirm that , among primary care patients , substantial changes in alcohol consumption are possible . They further suggest that matching studies of patient readiness to change their alcohol use , as well as other variables , are warranted
Sensitivity analysis indicates that from both perspectives the service is very cost effective and may be cost saving .
CONCLUSIONS These results make alcohol screening and counseling one of the highest-ranking preventive services among the 25 effective services evaluated using st and ardized methods .
BACKGROUND The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force ( USPSTF ) has recommended screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care to reduce alcohol misuse .
This study was design ed to develop a st and ardized rating for the clinical ly preventable burden and cost effectiveness of complying with that recommendation that would allow comparisons across many recommended services .