Brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption in accident and emergency departments

Abstract

The prevalence of alcohol abuse among patients treated in accident and emergencydepartments (A&E) is considered substantial. This paper is a narrative review of studiesinvestigating the effectiveness of brief interventions (BI) for hazardous and harmful alcoholconsumption in A&E. A&E departments in hospitals (and other health care infrastructures)are commonly the place where serious consequences of alcohol drinking are seen and need tobe tackled, supporting the suggested theoretical usefulness of delivering brief interventions inthis environment. Available research shows that brief interventions (BI) may be considered avaluable technique for dealing with alcohol-related problems. However, it is suggested thatthe usefulness of BI may depend significantly on the target population to be dealt with. BIhave proved to be beneficial for male individuals and those patients who do not abuse otherpsychoactive substances. In contrast, evidence indicates that brief interventions in A&Esettings are not effective at all when dealing with men admitted as a consequence of aviolence-related event. In addition, some studies were unable to confirm the effectiveness ofBI in female population, in emergency setting. Studies investigating the association betweendrinking patterns and the effectiveness of brief interventions also present inconsistent results. Most studies assessing the effectiveness of BI in A&E settings only adopted a shortperspective (looking at the impact up to a maximum of twelve months after the BI wasdelivered). When assessing the effects of BI, both the amount of alcohol consumed as well asexpected reductions in alcohol consequences, such as injuries, can be taken into account. Evidence on the implementation of brief intervention in emergency departments remainsinconclusive as to whether there are clear benefits. A variety of outcome measures andassessing procedures were used in the different studies, which have investigated this topic.