Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Fiona Beyer, Dr Ellen Lynch, Professor Eileen KanerORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Excessive drinking is a major public health problem that adversely affects all parts of the population. Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have reported that brief interventions delivered in primary care are effective at reducing alcohol consumption, albeit with small effect sizes that have decreased over time. This review summarises the updated evidence base on practitioner and digitally delivered brief interventions.Using Cochrane methodology, 69 primary care brief intervention trials (33,642 participants) and 57 digital intervention trials (34,390 participants) were identified. Meta-analyses showed both approaches significantly reduced consumption compared to controls. Five trials (390 participants) compared practitioner-delivered and digital interventions directly with no evidence of difference in outcomes at follow-up. Brief interventions have the potential to impact at both individual and population levels. Future research should focus on optimising components and delivery mechanisms, and on alcohol-related harms. Digital interventions may overcome some of the implementation barriers faced by practitioner-delivered interventions.
Author(s): Beyer F, Lynch E, Kaner E
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Current Addiction Reports
Year: 2018
Volume: 5
Issue: 2
Pages: 265–273
Print publication date: 01/06/2018
Online publication date: 03/05/2018
Acceptance date: 03/05/2018
Date deposited: 05/06/2018
ISSN (electronic): 2196-2952
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-018-0198-7
DOI: 10.1007/s40429-018-0198-7
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric