Clinical trial NCT00982306: Brief Interventions in General Hospital (BIG)
Official title: Brief Interventions for Heavy Alcohol Users Admitted to General Hospital
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Alcoholism
Keywords: alcohol
brief interventions
counseling
harmful/hazardous alcohol drinkers
Lead sponsor: Partnerships in Care
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
First posted: 2009-09-23
Enrollment: 294
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Alcohol abuse is a widespread concern internationally with a significant threat to world health. Research suggests a relationship between heavy drinking and certain clinical presentations such as injuries, physical and psychiatric illnesses and frequent sickness absence from employment. This research aims to establish whether brief interventions delivered to harmful and hazardous alcohol drinkers admitted to hospital impacts of their alcohol consumption levels on discharge from hospital.

Detailed description: Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol abusers admitted to medical and surgical wards at the Southern General Hospital

Evidence for brief interventions in general hospital Further research is required to prove the benefits of brief interventions within general hospital, based on evidence from the Cochrane systematic review 'Brief interventions for heavy alcohol users admitted to general hospital wards' (McQueen et al 2009).

Links with national and international agendas The European Health Target12 supports a reduction in harm from alcohol drugs and tobacco. By the year 2015 the adverse health effects from the consumption of addictive substances such as alcohol should be reduced by all member states (European Health for all targets 1998) The Scottish government has set HEAT (Health improvement, efficacy and governance access and treatment) target for the NHS to deliver 149,449 alcohol brief intervention cumulatively over the period of 2008/9-2010/11 (Scottish Alcohol and Drugs Workforce 2008).

Research Design This study will employ a randomised control trial design. The primary outcome measure will be grams of alcohol consumed per week, measures will be taken at baseline, six months and one year post intervention. Secondary outcomes will consist of brief intervention's impact on hospital re-admission rates, attendance at A\&E and mortality rates.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Scores between 3-12 on FAST
* Admitted to hospital
* Speaks english

Exclusion Criteria:

* Under 18 years
* Cognitively impaired
* Medically Unfit

Primary outcomes:
measure: Alcohol consumption in units
timeFrame: 6 months and one year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Hospital readmissions
timeFrame: one year
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Glasgow
country: United Kingdom
facility: Southern General Hospital
Study officials:
References:
citation: McQueen JM, Ballinger C, Howe TE. Factors associated with alcohol reduction in harmful and hazardous drinkers following alcohol brief intervention in Scotland: a qualitative enquiry. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017 Mar 8;17(1):181. doi: 10.1186/s12913-017-2093-7.