BACKGROUND: Alcohol is a legal and accessible substance in Taiwan. As excessive alcohol has been linked to health and social problems, it is necessary to develop a brief, rapid, and low-cost tool to help health care providers deal with persons in Taiwan whose alcohol consumption has become hazardous or harmful to their health. METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial with 6- and 12-month follow-ups was designed. Eighteen medical/surgical units at a medical center in northern Taiwan were randomly assigned to 2 groups: experimental (n = 9) and control (n = 9). Inpatients on the units were enrolled if they met the following criteria: were older than 18 years, had no severe psychiatric illness, and were not pregnant. The experimental group (n = 138) received the intervention, a 15-minute counseling visit in which nurses screened participants using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), provided a health promotion booklet for adults, and individually discussed the booklet contents with patients based on their drinking level (AUDIT score). The control group (n = 137) received no treatment. Patterns of alcohol consumption were determined by AUDIT scores at baseline, 6, and 12 months later. RESULTS:Alcohol use disorders identification test scores decreased significantly in both groups at 6 months after the intervention, but did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, 12 months after the brief alcohol intervention, experimental subjects' AUDIT scores were significantly better than those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our brief alcohol intervention provided a 12-month benefit for problem drinkers in Taiwan.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:Alcohol is a legal and accessible substance in Taiwan. As excessive alcohol has been linked to health and social problems, it is necessary to develop a brief, rapid, and low-cost tool to help health care providers deal with persons in Taiwan whose alcohol consumption has become hazardous or harmful to their health. METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial with 6- and 12-month follow-ups was designed. Eighteen medical/surgical units at a medical center in northern Taiwan were randomly assigned to 2 groups: experimental (n = 9) and control (n = 9). Inpatients on the units were enrolled if they met the following criteria: were older than 18 years, had no severe psychiatric illness, and were not pregnant. The experimental group (n = 138) received the intervention, a 15-minute counseling visit in which nurses screened participants using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), provided a health promotion booklet for adults, and individually discussed the booklet contents with patients based on their drinking level (AUDIT score). The control group (n = 137) received no treatment. Patterns of alcohol consumption were determined by AUDIT scores at baseline, 6, and 12 months later. RESULTS:Alcohol use disorders identification test scores decreased significantly in both groups at 6 months after the intervention, but did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, 12 months after the brief alcohol intervention, experimental subjects' AUDIT scores were significantly better than those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our brief alcohol intervention provided a 12-month benefit for problem drinkers in Taiwan.
Authors: Qing Li; Thomas F Babor; Donald Zeigler; Ziming Xuan; Donald Morisky; Melbourne F Hovell; Toben F Nelson; Weixing Shen; Bing Li Journal: Addiction Date: 2015-01 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Adeline M Nyamathi; Karabi Nandy; Barbara Greengold; Mary Marfisee; Farinaz Khalilifard; Allan Cohen; Barbara Leake Journal: J Addict Dis Date: 2011-01
Authors: Adeline Nyamathi; Steven Shoptaw; Allan Cohen; Barbara Greengold; Kamala Nyamathi; Mary Marfisee; Viviane de Castro; Farinaz Khalilifard; Daniel George; Barbara Leake Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2010-02-01 Impact factor: 4.492