Objective: An intervention to reduce the average alcohol intake and the number of drinking days in risky drinkers was conducted in a quasi-experimental study in two communities (intervention and control communities) in Lop Buri Province, Thailand.
Method: The participants were risky drinkers (with scores ranging from 8 through 19 on the World Health Organization's Alcohol Use and Disorders Identification Test) ages 19-65 years. In the intervention community, individual participants set their own drinking-reduction goals, and each participant received a Tailored Goal Oriented Community Brief Intervention (TGCBI) administered in four sessions over 2 months. The number of drinking days and the average alcohol intake during the past 30 days were measured before the intervention and at 1, 3, and 6 months after it. Complete data were available from 47 intervention and 50 control participants. Intervention effects at each post-intervention time were assessed with linear mixed models.
Results: Baseline sociodemographic characteristics showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups (p > .05). At baseline, M (SD) days of drinking and average daily alcohol intake were 12.9 days (10.5) and 20.4 g (19.2), respectively. The intervention was associated with a substantial reduction in both measures at each post-intervention time, and magnitudes of reduction increased with increasing time. Modeled intervention-related reductions in drinking days at successive post-intervention times were 5.1 (p = .031), 7.4 (p = .001), and 9.0 days (p < .001). Corresponding reductions in daily alcohol intake were 16.5, 17.4, and 25.0 g (p < .001 at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively, after the intervention). Adjustment for potential confounders and inclusion in the analysis of participants with missing data made little difference in modeled intervention effects.
Conclusions: TGCBI was associated with a substantial and significant reduction in drinking days and average alcohol intake through 6 months after the intervention. TGCBI could well prove beneficial for risky drinkers both inside and outside Thailand.