The Current State of Alcohol Screening and Management in Virginia Primary Care Practices: An Evaluation of Preventive Service Use

Alison N Huffstetler; Gabriela Villalobos; E Marshall Brooks; Adam Funk; Alicia Richards; Roy T Sabo; Michelle S Rockwell; John W Epling; Ben Webel; Alex H Krist

doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2023.07.001

The Current State of Alcohol Screening and Management in Virginia Primary Care Practices: An Evaluation of Preventive Service Use

Med Clin North Am. 2023 Nov;107(6S):e1-e17. doi: 10.1016/j.mcna.2023.07.001. Epub 2023 Aug 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Inova Fairfax Family Practice Residency, Fairfax, VA, USA. Electronic address: Alison.huffstetler@vcuhealth.org.
² Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
³ Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
⁴ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA, USA.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Inova Fairfax Family Practice Residency, Fairfax, VA, USA.

PMID: 38609278
DOI: 10.1016/j.mcna.2023.07.001

Abstract

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening and behavioral counseling for adults over 18 years for unhealthy alcohol use. Recommended screening instruments include the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise and or Single Alcohol Screening Question. Behavioral counseling is feasible in primary care, taking on average 30 minutes. Baseline data for a practice facilitation trial demonstrated clinicians appropriately screened only 10.8% of patients and only identified 9.6% as having risky drinking. Yet, 24% of patients reported risky drinking on a survey, demonstrating the implementation gap of the USPSTF recommendation and opportunity to improve health.

Keywords: Alcohol-induced disorders; Counseling; Primary health care; Primary prevention; Referral and consultation; Screening.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Advisory Committees
Alcoholism* / diagnosis
Alcoholism* / prevention & control
Ethanol
Humans
Primary Health Care
Virginia

Substances

Ethanol