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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2008 Sep;23(9):1482-6.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-008-0574-4. Epub 2008 Jul 10.

Alcohol counseling reflects higher quality of primary care

Richard Saitz  1 , Nicholas J Horton, Debbie M Cheng, Jeffrey H Samet
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Alcohol counseling reflects higher quality of primary care

Richard Saitz et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Some primary care physicians do not conduct alcohol screening because they assume their patients do not want to discuss alcohol use.

Objectives: To assess whether (1) alcohol counseling can improve patient-perceived quality of primary care, and (2) higher quality of primary care is associated with subsequent decreased alcohol consumption.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Subjects: Two hundred eighty-eight patients in an academic primary care practice who had unhealthy alcohol use.

Measurements: The primary outcome was quality of care received [measured with the communication, whole-person knowledge, and trust scales of the Primary Care Assessment Survey (PCAS)]. The secondary outcome was drinking risky amounts in the past 30 days (measured with the Timeline Followback method).

Results: Alcohol counseling was significantly associated with higher quality of primary care in the areas of communication (adjusted mean PCAS scale scores: 85 vs. 76) and whole-person knowledge (67 vs. 59). The quality of primary care was not associated with drinking risky amounts 6 months later.

Conclusions: Although quality of primary care may not necessarily affect drinking, brief counseling for unhealthy alcohol use may enhance the quality of primary care.

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Fig. 1
Subject Enrollment and Follow-up.
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