Brief Intervention for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use
Authors: Richard Saitz, Tibor P. Palfai, Jeffrey H. Samet
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2007)

Letters16 October 2007Brief Intervention for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Alcohol UseRichard Saitz, MD, MPH, Tibor P. Palfai, PhD, and Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPHRichard Saitz, MD, MPHFrom Boston University, Boston, MA 02118.Search for more papers by this author, Tibor P. Palfai, PhDFrom Boston University, Boston, MA 02118.Search for more papers by this author, and Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPHFrom Boston University, Boston, MA 02118.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-147-8-200710160-00017 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Drs. Bischof and Freyer-Adam did not correctly characterize the proportion of eligible participants who enrolled in our study. It was 65% (341 of 524 persons), which is remarkably high for an alcohol brief intervention trial. Readiness to change, AUDIT, and many other alcohol severity–related characteristics were similar in those enrolled, those eligible who did not enroll, and those with risky use who were ineligible (1).Our trial had fewer exclusion criteria than most trials (2), and readiness was not among them. Nonetheless, many of our participants were considering change (as noted in Table 1 of our article). Furthermore, ...References1. Saitz R, Freedner N, Palfai TP, Horton NJ, Samet JH. The severity of unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized medical patients. The spectrum is narrow. J Gen Intern Med. 2006;21:381-5. [PMID: 16686818] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Beich A, Thorsen T, Rollnick S. Screening in brief intervention trials targeting excessive drinkers in general practice: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2003;327:536-42. [PMID: 12958114] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Williams EC, Horton NJ, Samet JH, Saitz R. Do brief measures of readiness to change predict alcohol consumption and consequences in primary care patients with unhealthy alcohol use? Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007;31:428-35. [PMID: 17295727] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Riemsma RP, Pattenden J, Bridle C, Sowden AJ, Mather L, Watt IS, et al. A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions based on a stages-of-change approach to promote individual behaviour change. Health Technol Assess. 2002;6:1-231. [PMID: 12433313] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Emmen MJ, Schippers GM, Bleijenberg G, Wollersheim H. Effectiveness of opportunistic brief interventions for problem drinking in a general hospital setting: systematic review. BMJ. 2004;328:318. [PMID: 14729657] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Richard Saitz, MD, MPH; Tibor P. Palfai, PhD; Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPHAffiliations: From Boston University, Boston, MA 02118.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoBrief Intervention for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Richard Saitz , Tibor P. Palfai , Debbie M. Cheng , Nicholas J. Horton , Naomi Freedner , Kim Dukes , Kevin L. Kraemer , Mark S. Roberts , Rosanne T. Guerriero , and Jeffrey H. Samet Brief Intervention for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Gallus Bischof and Jennis Freyer-Adam Brief Intervention for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Lisa J. Merlo , Dheeraj Kumar , and Mark S. Gold Metrics Cited byReducing Alcohol Consumption Among Risky Drinkers in the General Population of Sweden Using an Interactive Mobile Health Intervention: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial 16 October 2007Volume 147, Issue 8Page: 590KeywordsAlcoholismAlcoholsConflicts of interestEmergency departmentFallsHospitalizationsInpatients ePublished: 16 October 2007 Issue Published: 16 October 2007 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2007 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...