Testing the Initial Efficacy of a Mailed Screening and Brief Feedback Intervention to Reduce At‐Risk Drinking in Middle‐Aged and Older Adults: The Comorbidity Alcohol Risk Evaluation Study

Abstract

Background/Objectives To determine the initial efficacy of a mailed screening and brief intervention to reduce at-risk drinking among persons aged 50 years and older. Design Pilot randomized controlled trial. Setting UCLA Department of Medicine Community Offices and Primary Care Network. Participants: 86 adults aged 50 years and above who were identified as at-risk drinkers by the Comorbidity Alcohol Risk Evaluation Tool (CARET). Intervention Participants were assigned randomly to receive personalized mailed feedback outlining their specific risks associated with alcohol use, an educational booklet on alcohol and aging, and the NIH Rethinking Drinking: Alcohol and Your Health booklet (intervention group) or nothing (control group). Measurements Alcohol-related assessments at baseline and at 3 months. CARET assessed at-risk drinking, number of risks, and types of risks. Results At 3 months, relative to controls, fewer intervention group participants were: at-risk drinkers (66% versus 88%), binge drinking (45% versus 68%), used alcohol with a medical or psychiatric condition (3% versus 17%) or with symptoms of such a condition (29% versus 49%). Conclusion A mailed brief intervention may be an effective approach to intervening with at-risk drinkers aged 50 and older.

A pilot study of online feedback for adult drinkers 50 and older: Feasibility, efficacy, and preferences for intervention

“…Consistent with previous research (Kuerbis et al, 2015), the briefest of interventions, such as those utilized here, could have important impact with relatively little cost to the health care system—assuring that precious resources are spent where they are needed most. Given that the vast majority of SBIs utilized with this population are quite extensive, with multiple components and visits with healthcare providers, online interventions offer a parsimonious and potentially cost-effective supplement to existing primary care services and in other community settings.…”

“…Only one major study of older drinkers utilized NF (Barry et al, 2006), while a majority of other studies used some form of PF (Fink et al, 2005; Fleming et al, 1999; Gordon et al, 2003; Kuerbis et al, 2015; Moore et al, 2011). However, in every study of SBIs with older adults, feedback is combined with extensive education, time consuming follow ups with physicians, nurses, or social workers, and/or some kind of motivational or behavioral intervention, such as creating a plan for reduced drinking (e.g., Barry et al, 2006; Fleming et al, 1999).…”

A Randomized Controlled Trial of IVR-Based Alcohol Brief Intervention to Promote Patient–Provider Communication in Primary Care

“…Our data do not allow us to determine whether a full IVR-BI is required as a patient prompt, or whether IVR assessment + simple feedback would be sufficient. 39,40 Regardless of its intensity, incorporating an alcohol-related IVR component into a standard appointment reminder call would be relatively straightforward. A strength of this study was that screening data were seamlessly merged with the EMR and available to the PCP at the time of the visit.…”

How does Older People's Drinking Appear in the Daily Work of Home Care Professionals?

“…The alcohol-drug interactions have typically been studied separately (Ilomäki et al, 2013;Immonen, Valvanne, & Pitkälä, 2013;Johannessen, Engedal, & Helvik, 2015;Cousins et al, 2014). Furthermore, there are studies on the utilisation of emergency department care (Levy Merrick et al, 2011;Woodruff et al, 2009) and on the effects of referral to treatment, screening practices and various kinds of Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/14/17 3:21 PM early interventions (Schonfeld et al, 2014;Ettner et al, 2014;Benza, Calvert, & Mc-Quown, 2010;Kuerbis et al, 2015;Google & Owens, 2015;Wallace, Black, & Fothergill, 2010;Bakhshi & While, 2014). There are also studies that have examined the effect of gender (Epstein, Fischer-Elber, & Al-Otaiba, 2007), retirement (Wang, Steier, & Gallo, 2014;Zantinge et al, 2013) and social involvement (Dare et al, 2014) on old people's alcohol consumption.…”