[Effectiveness of brief medical counseling to reduce drinkers' alcohol consumption]

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of medical counselling in reducing alcohol consumption in male heavy drinkers.

Design: A controlled, randomised, simple-blind intervention study.

Setting: Four Primary Care teams in Area 10, Madrid.

Patients: 152 men who attended for on-demand treatment from the four teams and whose alcohol consumption was over 21 International Units (IU) a week.

Intervention: Brief medical counselling backed up by didactic material. Two questionnaires on alcohol consumption in IU, consumption habits and problems related to alcohol were administered, separated by an interval of between 6 and 18 months. Non-parametric tests for paired samples (McNemar) were applied.

Results: 60% answered the second questionnaire. Neither sociodemographic nor health habit differences were found between those who responded and those who did not, except for social class. There were no appreciable differences between the intervention and control groups. The percentage of drinkers above 35 IU decreased significantly in the intervention group.

Conclusions: The intervention was clearly effective in reducing the percentage of drinkers whose weekly consumption was over 35 IU.