People who drink above what could be considered a healthy level - that is, more than two to three drinks per day - are at risk for a number of health and safety problems. Excessive alcohol use has been implicated as a cause of liver disease, stroke, cancer, infant neurodevelopmental disorders, and hospital admissions in older adults as well as a leading factor in domestic violence, marital conflict, child abuse, accidents and injuries. A study in the January issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research takes a method also used for smoking cessation - physician intervention - and applies it to problem drinking.
"I was interested in finding out if what I did as a physician made a difference with my patients," said Michael F. Fleming, director of the Family Medicine Research Program at University of Wisconsin - Madison and lead author of the study. "What happens when I talk to my patients for a few minutes about their drinking? Do they decrease their alcohol use? Do they have fewer health problems? Are they hospitalized less often? Do they get into fewer accidents?"
During a routine visit to the doctor, Wisconsin patients (ages 18 - 65) were given a questionnaire to establish at-risk alcohol behaviors. Of the 774 who screened positive, 382 were assigned to a control group and 392 received an intervention program called Project TrEAT (Trial for Early Alcohol Treatment), a protocol originally developed in England that was modified by Fleming and his co-authors. Project TrEAT consis
'"/>
15-Jan-2002