Evaluation of Alcohol Screening and Community-Based Brief Interventions in Rural Western Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Abstract
AIMS: To assess the effectiveness of community-based alcohol brief interventions (ABI) implemented by community-health workers with and without motivational talks (MT) by former drinkers, in reducing harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption. METHODS: We conducted a three-arm quasi-experimental study (one control and two intervention groups) between May and December 2015 in Kakamega County, Kenya. Participants were hazardous or harmful alcohol drinkers with an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 8-19 at baseline. One intervention group received only ABI while the other received ABI + MT. The interventions' effects on AUDIT scores were analysed using linear mixed models. Logistic regression was used to analyse the interventions' effects on low-risk drinking (AUDIT score <8) after 6 months. RESULTS: The study included 161 participants: 52 in the control group, 52 in the only ABI group and 57 in the ABI + MT group. The mean AUDIT scores were lower in the intervention groups at 1, 3 and 6 months post-intervention; the ABI + MT group showed a greater reduction. The mean AUDIT scores over a 6-month period were lower in both intervention groups compared with the control group. The odds of low-risk drinking were almost two times higher in both intervention groups than in the control group, although the effect of only ABI on low-risk drinking was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: ABI + MT and only ABI were associated with a reduced mean AUDIT score among hazardous and high-risk drinkers in this resource-limited setting. ABI + MT was also associated with low-risk drinking in this population. SHORT SUMMARY: Community-based alcohol brief interventions implemented by community-health workers accompanied by motivational talks by former drinkers were associated with reduced hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption in a rural setting in western Kenya.
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In adults in Kenya with an AUDIT score of 8-19, unadjusted mean AUDIT scores were reduced in all three study groups between baseline and 6-month assessment, with greater reduction in adjusted mean AUDIT scores in the intervention groups than in the control group, and the greatest reduction in the ABI + MT group.
“Unadjusted mean AUDIT scores were reduced in all three study groups between the baseline and 6-month assessment post-intervention, with reductions from 13.4 to 9.4, 14.4 to 7.7 and 14.1 to 6.6 in the control, only ABI and ABI + MT groups, respectively. Over time, there was a greater reduction in the adjusted mean AUDIT scores in the intervention groups than in the control group, with the greatest”
From A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa (2024) · cites this paper as [96]
Of the studies in which the duration of each session was provided, the amount of time spent across all sessions ranged from 15 minutes to 4 hours.
“Of the studies in which the duration of each session was provided, the amount of time spent across all sessions ranged from 15 minutes ([96] to 4 hours ([76] (Table 2).”
From A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa (2024) · cites this paper as [96]
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“Various interventions have been conducted to address alcohol use among PLWH, including individual-level (Kahler et al., 2018; Puryear et al., 2023; Wandera et al., 2017), group (Zule et al., 2014) and community-based approaches (Takahashi et al., 2018).”
- Authors
- Takahashi, R., Wilunda, C., Magutah, K., Mwaura-Tenambergen, W., Atwoli, L., & Perngparn, U.
- Affiliations
- Chulalongkorn University (TH)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Moi University (KE)
- Kenya Methodist University (KE)
- Corresponding author
- Takahashi, Risa
- Venue
- Alcohol and Alcoholism
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2017-10-26
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 121-128
- ISSN
- 0735-0414 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3502
- OpenAlex
- W2765269072
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 0.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Alcohol and Alcoholism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eCommons - AKU (Aga Khan University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Keywords
- brief alcohol intervention, community health workers, motivational talks, former drinkers, alcohol screening, auditing, hazardous drinking, low-risk drinking, rural health care, resource-limited settings, Western Kenya
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Community Health Workers, Community Health Services, Female, Humans, Kenya, Male, Mass Screening, Middle Aged, Rural Population, Socioeconomic Factors, Logistic Models, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult, Motivational Interviewing
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