The Cochrane 2018 Review on Brief Interventions in Primary Care for Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Consumption: A Distillation for Clinicians and Policy Makers
Open accessAbstract
AIMS: An updated Cochrane systematic review assessed effectiveness of screening and brief intervention to reduce hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption in general practice or emergency care settings. This paper summarises the implications of the review for clinicians. METHODS: Cochrane methods were followed. Reporting accords with PRISMA guidance. We searched multiple resources to September 2017, seeking randomised controlled trials of brief interventions to reduce hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption in people attending general practice, emergency care or other primary care settings for reasons other than alcohol treatment. Brief intervention was defined as a conversation comprising five or fewer sessions of brief advice or brief lifestyle counselling and a total duration of less than 60 min. Our primary outcome was alcohol consumption, measured as or convertible to grams per week. We conducted meta-analyses to assess change in consumption, and subgroup analyses to explore the impact of participant and intervention characteristics. RESULTS: We included 69 studies, of which 42 were added for this update. Most studies (88%) compared brief intervention to control. The primary meta-analysis included 34 studies and provided moderate-quality evidence that brief intervention reduced consumption compared to control after one year (mean difference -20 g/wk, 95% confidence interval -28 to -12). Subgroup analysis showed a similar effect for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Brief interventions can reduce harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption in men and women. Short, advice-based interventions may be as effective as extended, counselling-based interventions for patients with harmful levels of alcohol use who are presenting for the first time in a primary care setting.
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Meta-analytic evidence indicates that BIs are effective for treating harmful substance use.
“Most importantly, meta-analytic evidence indicates that BIs are effective for treating harmful substance use [14,20].”
From A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
The Summary of main results and clinical importance reports that brief interventions reduced alcohol consumption compared with controls in a primary-care meta-analysis. The Background limits the review to hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption and says these interventions are not intended for people with alcohol dependence. The source therefore supports effectiveness for reducing harmful drinking, but not the broader claim about treating harmful substance use generally. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBIs are time-limited and can be delivered in various settings including primary healthcare, criminal justice systems, and schools.
“Firstly, BIs are time-limited, and can be delivered in various settings including primary healthcare [14], criminal justice systems [15], and schools [16].”
From A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Beyer, F. R., Campbell, F., Bertholet, N., Daeppen, J. B., Saunders, J. B., Pienaar, E. D., Muirhead, C. R., & Kaner, E. F. S.
- Affiliations
- Newcastle University (GB)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- South African Medical Research Council (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Beyer, F R
- ORCID
- Venue
- Alcohol and Alcoholism
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2019-05-07
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 417-427
- ISSN
- 0735-0414 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3502
- OpenAlex
- W2944787094
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Alcohol and Alcoholism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Keywords
- brief intervention, screening and brief intervention, hazardous drinking, alcohol consumption reduction, primary care, general practice, emergency care, brief advice, sex differences, alcohol policy
- MeSH terms
- Administrative Personnel, Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Dangerous Behavior, Humans, Physicians, Primary Health Care, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Early Medical Intervention
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