Table 2.
Characteristics of conversation about alcohol in healthcare
| Variables | Sweden | Netherlands | Total | p-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abstainers | Moderate drinkers | Risky drinkers | Total | Abstainers | Moderate drinkers | Risky drinkers | |||
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Healthcare visits in the past 12 months | (n = 284) | (n = 1865) | (n = 847) | (n = 2996) | (n = 351) | (n = 1174) | (n = 646) | (n = 2171) | < 0.001 |
| 2 or more visits | 122 (43.0) | 694 (37.2) | 295 (34.8) | 1111 (37.1) | 189 (53.8) | 611 (52.0) | 295 (45.7) | 1095 (50.4) | |
| 1 visit | 88 (31.0) | 582 (31.2) | 259 (30.6) | 929 (31.0) | 68 (19.4) | 270 (23.0) | 144 (22.3) | 482 (22.2) | |
| No visit | 74 (26.1) | 589 (31.6) | 293 (34.6) | 956 (31.9) | 94 (26.8) | 293 (25.0) | 207 (32.0) | 594 (27.3) | |
| Conversation about alcohol in healthcare in the past 12 months | (n = 210) | (n = 1276) | (n = 554) | (n = 2040) | (n = 257) | (n = 881) | (n = 439) | (n = 1577) | < 0.001 |
| 2 or more conversations | 16 (7.6) | 63 (4.9) | 40 (7.2) | 119 (5.8) | 18 (7.0) | 48 (5.4) | 33 (7.5) | 99 (6.3) | |
| 1 conversation | 40 (19.0) | 260 (20.4) | 115 (20.8) | 415 (20.3) | 21 (8.2) | 114 (12.9) | 63 (14.4) | 198 (12.6) | |
| No conversation | 154 (73.3) | 953 (74.7) | 399 (72.0) | 1506 (73.8) | 218 (84.8) | 719 (81.6) | 343 (78.1) | 1280 (81.2) | |
| Duration of conversation about alcohol | (n = 56) | (n = 323) | (n = 155) | (n = 534) | (n = 39) | (n = 162) | (n = 96) | (n = 297) | < 0.001 |
| < 1 min | 45 (80.4) | 207 (64.1) | 72 (46.5) | 324 (60.7) | 37 (94.9) | 132 (81.5) | 59 (61.5) | 228 (76.7) | |
| 1–4 min | 7 (12.5) | 94 (29.1) | 58 (37.4) | 159 (29.8) | 2 (5.1) | 28 (17.3) | 22 (22.9) | 52 (17.5) | |
| 5–10 min | 4 (7.1) | 18 (5.6) | 20 (12.9) | 42 (7.8) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.2) | 11 (11.5) | 13 (4.4) | |
| > 10 min | 0 (0.0) | 4 (1.2) | 5 (3.2) | 9 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.1) | 4 (1.3) | |
| Contents of conversation about alcohol (use dichotomized variables) (affirmative answers) | |||||||||
| Verbal information about alcohol’s influence on health | 12 (21.4) | 80 (24.8) | 51 (32.9) | 143 (26.9) | 13 (33.3) | 22 (13.6) | 20 (20.8) | 55 (18.5) | 0.007 |
| Questions about my alcohol consumption | 49 (87.5) | 290 (89.8) | 130 (83.9) | 469 (87.9) | 32 (82.1) | 146 (90.1) | 87 (90.6) | 265 (89.2) | 0.560 |
| Questions about my willingness to reduce consumption | 0 (0.0) | 22 (6.8) | 28 (18.1) | 50 (9.3) | 2 (5.1) | 7 (4.3) | 21 (21.9) | 30 (10.1) | 0.717 |
| Advice on how to reduce my consumption | 0 (0.0) | 12 (3.7) | 20 (12.9) | 32 (6.0) | 2 (5.1) | 3 (1.9) | 9 (9.4) | 14 (4.7) | 0.447 |
| Written information about alcohol | 3 (5.4) | 25 (7.7) | 15 (9.7) | 43 (8.0) | 2 (5.1) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (5.2) | 7 (2.4) | 0.001 |
| Experiences of conversation about alcohol (agreed completely or to a large degree) | |||||||||
| Provided valuable knowledge | 18 (32.1) | 87 (26.9) | 42 (27.1) | 147 (27.6) | 15 (38.5) | 39 (24.1) | 25 (26.0) | 79 (26.6) | 0.143 |
| It was informative | 22 (39.3) | 99 (30.6) | 47 (30.4) | 168 (31.5) | 18 (46.2) | 63 (38.9) | 33 (34.4) | 114 (38.4) | 0.082 |
| It was routine | 51 (91.1) | 302 (93.5) | 135 (87.1) | 488 (91.5) | 29 (74.4) | 125 (77.1) | 60 (62.5) | 214 (72.0) | < 0.001 |
| It felt awkward | 3 (5.4) | 11 (3.4) | 19 (12.2) | 33 (6.2) | 4 (10.2) | 6 (3.7) | 8 (8.3) | 18 (6.1) | 0.786 |
| It was irritating | 4 (7.2) | 15 (4.6) | 13 (8.4) | 32 (5.9) | 2 (5.2) | 2 (1.2) | 16 (16.7) | 10 (3.4) | 0.119 |
| It was offensive | 1 (1.8) | 8 (2.4) | 11 (7.1) | 20 (3.8) | X | X | X | X | |
| It felt judgmental | 1 (1.8) | 8 (2.4) | 11 (7.1) | 20 (3.8) | 2 (5.2) | 4 (2.4) | 3 (3.1) | 9 (3.0) | 0.769 |
| Effects of conversation about alcohol (agreed completely or to a large degree) | |||||||||
| Had no effect at all | 44 (78.6) | 242 (74.9) | 92 (59.3) | 378 (70.5) | 31 (79.5) | 136 (83.9) | 60 (62.5) | 227 (76.4) | 0.217 |
| Made me consider my drinking | 2 (3.6) | 23 (6.8) | 27 (17.5) | 52 (9.5) | 3 (7.7) | 15 (9.3) | 21 (21.9) | 39 (13.1) | 0.335 |
| Gave me a better understanding of alcohol’s health risks | 6 (10.7) | 34 (10.5) | 25 (16.1) | 65 (12.1) | 13 (33.4) | 47 (29.0) | 33 (34.4) | 93 (31.3) | < 0.001 |
| Led to increase in my drinking | 1 (1.8) | 6 (1.9) | 8 (5.2) | 15 (2.8) | 2 (5.2) | 3 (1.8) | 2 (2.1) | 7 (2.3) | 0.492 |
| Led to reduction of my drinking | 5 (8.9) | 24 (7.4) | 21 (13.5) | 50 (9.4) | 4 (10.3) | 20 (12.4) | 17 (17.7) | 41 (13.8) | 0.054 |
| Made me think about a friend’s drinking | 8 (14.3) | 37 (11.5) | 21 (13.5) | 66 (12.3) | 7 (18.0) | 12 (7.5) | 12 (12.5) | 31 (10.4) | < 0.001 |