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 .
Assisting problem drinkers to change on their own: effect of specific and non-specific advice.
Problem drinkers ( 99 males , 41 females ) wishing to quit or cut down without professional help received a 60-minute session during which they were assessed and given at r and om one of these material s : Guidelines , a two-page pamphlet outlining specific methods for achieving abstinence or moderate drinking ; Manual , a 30-page booklet describing the methods in the Guidelines ; or General Information , a package about alcohol effects . At 12 months follow-up , subjects in the Guidelines and Manual conditions showed significantly greater reductions of heavy days ( of 5 + drinks ) than subjects in General Information ( 70 % vs. 24 % ) ; in addition , significantly fewer subjects in the Guidelines and the Manual conditions expressed need for professional assistance with their drinking ( 25 % vs. 46 % in General Information ) . No main effect of condition or gender was observed on rates of moderate drinkers . At 12 months follow-up , 31 % of the men and 43 % of the women were rated as moderate drinkers . It was concluded that drinkers intending to cut down on their own derive greater benefit ( in terms of their alcohol use ) from material s containing specific instructions to develop moderate drinking than from those providing general information on alcohol effects . Clinical and research implication s of the findings are discussed
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 .