Cited by 96Smoking Behavior and CessationSubstance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesHealth Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention

Comparison of brief interventions in primary care on smoking and excessive alcohol consumption: a population survey in England

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Brown, Jamie, West, Robert, Angus, Colin, Beard, Emma, Brennan, Alan, Drummond, Colin, Hickman, Matthew, Holmes, John +2 more·2016·British Journal of General Practice

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Brief interventions have a modest but meaningful effect on promoting smoking cessation and reducing excessive alcohol consumption. Guidelines recommend offering such advice opportunistically and regularly but incentives vary between the two behaviours. AIM: To use representative data from the perspective of patients to compare the prevalence and characteristics of people who smoke or drink excessively and who receive a brief intervention. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data was from a representative sample of 15,252 adults from household surveys in England. METHOD: Recall of brief interventions on smoking and alcohol use, sociodemographic information, and smoking and alcohol consumption patterns were assessed among smokers and those who drink excessively (AUDIT score of ≥8), who visited their GP surgery in the previous year. RESULTS: Of 1775 smokers, 50.4% recalled receiving brief advice on smoking in the previous year. Smokers receiving advice compared with those who did not were more likely to be older (odds ratio [OR] 17-year increments 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.06 to 1.34), female (OR 1.35, 95% CI =1.10 to 1.65), have a disability (OR 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.88), have made more quit attempts in the previous year (compared with no attempts: one attempt, OR 1.65, 95% CI = 1.32 to 2.08; ≥2 attempts, OR 2.02, 95% CI =1.49 to 2.74), and have greater nicotine dependence (OR 1.17, 95% CI =1.05 to 1.31) but were less likely to have no post-16 qualifications (OR 0.81, 95% CI = 0.66 to 1.00). Of 1110 people drinking excessively, 6.5% recalled receiving advice in their GP surgery on their alcohol consumption in the previous year. Those receiving advice compared with those who did not had higher AUDIT scores (OR 1.17, 95% CI =1.12 to 1.23) and were less likely to be female (OR 0.44, 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.87). CONCLUSION: Whereas approximately half of smokers in England visiting their GP in the past year report having received advice on cessation, <10% of those who drink excessively report having received advice on their alcohol consumption.

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  1. Angus C, Li J, Parrott S, Brennan A. Optimizing Delivery of Health Care Interventions (ODHIN): cost-effectiveness -analysis of the WP5 trial. Sheffield: University of Sheffield, in press.
  2. Holmes J, Meier PS, Booth A, Brennan A. Reporting the characteristics of the policy context for population-level alcohol interventions: a proposed 'Transparent Reporting of Alcohol Intervention ContExts' (TRAICE) checklist. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014; 33(6): 596-603.

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Authors
Brown, J., West, R., Angus, C., Beard, E., Brennan, A., Drummond, C., Hickman, M., Holmes, J., Kaner, E., & Michie, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Sheffield (GB)
  • University College London (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • Newcastle University (GB)
Venue
British Journal of General Practice
Published
2015-12-30
Volume
66
Issue
642
Pages
e1-e9
ISSN
  • 0960-1643 (ISSN-L)
  • 1478-5242
OpenAlex
W2224655618
Cited by
96
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10
FWCI
8.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • British Journal of General Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
  • Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity) (cc-by)
Funders
  • Pfizer
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
  • Society for the Study of Addiction
  • Cancer Research UK (14135)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (RP-PG-0609-10162, 13/86/03, NF-SI-0515-10023, HTA/13/86/03)
  • King's College London
  • NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South London
  • Medical Research Council (MR/L022206/1, MR/K02325X/1, MR/K023195/1, MR/K023233/1)
  • School for Public Health Research
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention
Keywords
brief intervention, smoking cessation, excessive alcohol consumption, primary care, smoking cessation counseling, nicotine dependence, AUDIT score, health disparities, disability, educational attainment, England, NHS Health Check, NHS 111
MeSH terms
Smoking Prevention, Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Cross-Sectional Studies, England, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Population Surveillance, Primary Health Care, Smoking, Incidence, Prevalence, Smoking Cessation

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