Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Nov;51(5):801-811.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.04.013.

Alcohol Electronic Screening and Brief Intervention: A Community Guide Systematic Review

Kristin A Tansil  1 , Marissa B Esser  1 , Paramjit Sandhu  1 , Jeffrey A Reynolds  1 , Randy W Elder  2 , Rebecca S Williamson  1 , Sajal K Chattopadhyay  1 , Michele K Bohm  1 , Robert D Brewer  3 , Lela R McKnight-Eily  4 , Daniel W Hungerford  4 , Traci L Toomey  5 , Ralph W Hingson  6 , Jonathan E Fielding  7 ; Community Preventive Services Task Force
Affiliations
Review

Alcohol Electronic Screening and Brief Intervention: A Community Guide Systematic Review

Kristin A Tansil et al. Am J Prev Med. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Context: Excessive drinking is responsible for one in ten deaths among working-age adults in the U.S. annually. Alcohol screening and brief intervention is an effective but underutilized intervention for reducing excessive drinking among adults. Electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) uses electronic devices to deliver key elements of alcohol screening and brief intervention, with the potential to expand population reach.

Evidence acquisition: Using Community Guide methods, a systematic review of the scientific literature on the effectiveness of e-SBI for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms was conducted. The search covered studies published from 1967 to October 2011. A total of 31 studies with 36 study arms met quality criteria and were included in the review. Analyses were conducted in 2012.

Evidence synthesis: Twenty-four studies (28 study arms) provided results for excessive drinkers only and seven studies (eight study arms) reported results for all drinkers. Nearly all studies found that e-SBI reduced excessive alcohol consumption and related harms: nine study arms reported a median 23.9% reduction in binge-drinking intensity (maximum drinks/binge episode) and nine study arms reported a median 16.5% reduction in binge-drinking frequency. Reductions in drinking measures were sustained for up to 12 months.

Conclusions: According to Community Guide rules of evidence, e-SBI is an effective method for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms among intervention participants. Implementation of e-SBI could complement population-level strategies previously recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force for reducing excessive drinking (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes and regulating alcohol outlet density).

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model showing conceptualization of how alcohol e-SBI is expected to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and related harms.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Alcohol e-SBI systematic review search yield (1967 – October 2011).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Stahre M, Roeber J, Kanny D, Brewer RD, Zhang X. Contribution of excessive alcohol consumption to deaths and years of potential life lost in the United States. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014;11:E109. doi: 10.5888/pcd11.130293. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004;291(10):1238–1245. - PubMed
    1. CDC. [Accessed March 26, 2014];Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application. 2013 apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI/Default.aspx.
    1. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Correction: actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2005;293(3):293–294. doi: 10.1001/jama.293.3.293. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sacks JJ, Gonzales KR, Bouchery EE, Tomedi LE, Brewer RD. 2010 national and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. Am J Prev Med. 2015;49(5):e73–79. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.05.031. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms