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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2009 Aug;34(8):636-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.03.034. Epub 2009 Apr 2.

Does readiness to change predict subsequent alcohol consumption in medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use?

Nicolas Bertholet  1 , Debbie M Cheng, Tibor P Palfai, Jeffrey H Samet, Richard Saitz
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Does readiness to change predict subsequent alcohol consumption in medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use?

Nicolas Bertholet et al. Addict Behav. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

We studied whether readiness to change predicts alcohol consumption (drinks per day) 3 months later in 267 medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use. We used 3 readiness to change measures: a 1 to 10 visual analog scale (VAS) and two factors of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale: Perception of Problems (PP) and Taking Action (TA). Subjects with the highest level of VAS-measured readiness consumed significantly fewer drinks 3 months later [Incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57 (0.36, 0.91) highest vs. lowest tertile]. Greater PP was associated with more drinking [IRR (95%CI): 1.94 (1.02, 3.68) third vs. lowest quartile]. Greater TA scores were associated with less drinking [IRR (95%CI): 0.42 (0.23, 0.78) highest vs. lowest quartile]. Perception of Problems' association with more drinking may reflect severity rather than an aspect of readiness associated with ability to change; high levels of Taking Action appear to predict less drinking. Although assessing readiness to change may have clinical utility, assessing the patient's planned actions may have more predictive value for future improvement in alcohol consumption.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Selection of subjects with unhealthy alcohol use for the prospective cohort study
Figure 2
Figure 2. Association between readiness to change (assessed with a visual analog scale) and drinks per day at 3 months†
†: Controlled for drinking at study entry (drinks per day, last 30 days), randomization group, age, gender, heroin or cocaine use (last 30 days), marijuana use (last 30 days) and presence of an alcohol related medical diagnosis at hospital admission Lines represent 95% confidence intervals Tertiles were used instead of quartiles because of the distribution of data (see text)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Associations between readiness to change (assessed with the SOCRATES factor 1: Perception of Problems and factor 2: Taking Action) and drinks per day at 3 months†
†: Controlled for drinking at study entry (drinks per day, last 30 days), randomization group, age, gender, heroin or cocaine use (last 30 days), marijuana use (last 30 days) and presence of an alcohol related medical diagnosis at hospital admission SOCRATES=Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale. Lines represent 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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