Adding psychologist's intervention to physicians' advice to problem drinkers in the outpatient clinic

AIMS: To test the effectiveness of a brief psychological intervention for problem drinking among outpatients in a hospital setting. METHODS: Over a period of 3 years physicians screened patients who visited an outpatient clinic for general internal medicine for problem drinking. Of the 4728 patients screened, 284 (6%) scored positive on problem drinking of whom 123 participated in the study. They received a computerized baseline assessment and were randomly allocated to a brief psychosocial intervention given by a psychologist (Dutch version of W. R. Millers' Drinker's Check-Up) (n = 61) or to 'care as usual' (n = 62). They were followed up at 6 months. The outcome measures were alcohol consumption and the increase in motivation to reduce alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Most patients reduced their alcohol consumption over time, but no differences were found between the intervention and control groups. A slightly, but not significantly, larger proportion of patients who received the intervention increased their motivation to change. CONCLUSIONS: No conclusive evidence was found for the effectiveness of adding a brief psychological intervention to the physician's advice for problem drinking among outpatients in a hospital setting.