Effectiveness of Brief Counseling in a Hospital Setting for Smoking Cessation and Risky Alcohol Drinking Reduction: Randomized Clinical Trial Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic diseases are a public health problem, and 80% of them are related to modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking, and risky alcohol consumption. Although the intervention in smoking and hazardous alcohol drinking has proven to be effective in Primary Care, it is unknown whether it works in the same way in the hospital setting.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of brief counselling in order to modify the stage of change in smokers and at-risk drinkers treated in a high complexity hospital.

Methods: A Randomised controlled trial to be conducted, in which an evaluation is made of four brief counselling strategies for smoking cessation and risky alcohol consumption compared to usual care, selected according to the patient's stage of change. The primary result will be the proportion of patients in each of the groups (intervention and control) with identified progress in the stage of change. The reduction of consumption will be also be analysed. Protocol registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03521622).

Results: The results will be published in scientific journals, and its application aims to generate behavioural intervention protocols for modifiable risk factors in high complexity hospitals. The trial was presented and approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Hospital Universitario de San Ignacio, Bogota, Colombia (Approval 01/2018).

Keywords: Alcohol drinking; Behaviour; Comportamiento; Consejería médica; Consumo de bebidas alcohólicas; Counselling; Hospitales; Hospitals; Tabaquismo; Tobacco use disorder.