Box 2.

Summary of a pragmatic study of a screening and brief intervention programme in general practice for excessive alcohol use

Overall objective

To establish the basis for deciding when to use a screening and brief intervention programme by studying:

• Aspects of excessive alcohol use among patients
• The validity of the AUDIT questionnaire in the intended context
• The real life effectiveness of a brief intervention among patients identified by screening
• The experiences of general practitioners who implemented the programme in their practice
• The literature on screening based interventions for use in general practice.

Methods and results

• Thirty nine general practitioners in four counties in Denmark volunteered to fully implement the WHO's screening and brief intervention programme for a study period of eight weeks in 1997-8. They all received one to three days of training. They offered screening to all eligible patients during the study period
• Of 7691 eligible patients 6897 (aged 18-64 years) were screened by completing the AUDIT questionnaire (the other 794 patients refused to participate)
• Screening showed that 1087 patients (15.8%) drank excessively
• Alcohol dependency was suspected in 181 patients (2.6%)
• Of the patients shown by screening to drink excessively (mean consumption 13 units a week), 906 (607 men) were randomised to a brief intervention group or to a control group
• 554 patients (61%) responded to follow up 12 months later
• Other results of the study are in preparation