Changes in alcohol behaviour in responders at 6 months (n=98)
| Alcohol drinking behaviour* | Usual care (n=52) | Brief intervention (n=46) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | At 6 weeks | At 6 months | Baseline | At 6 weeks | At 6 months | |
| How often having an alcohol drink? | ||||||
| ≤Monthly | 1 (1.9) | 4 (9.8) | 8 (15.4) | 4 (8.7) | 5 (15.2) | 6 (13.0) |
| 2–4 Times monthly | 19 (37.3) | 13 (31.7) | 24 (46.2) | 15 (32.6) | 13 (39.4) | 17 (36.9) |
| 2+Weekly | 31 (60.8) | 24 (58.5) | 20 (38.4) | 27 (58.7) | 15 (45.4) | 23 (50.1) |
| How many units on a typical day? | ||||||
| 1–2 | 6 (11.8) | 2 (4.9) | 5 (9.8) | 6 (13.0) | 3 (9.4) | 3 (6.5) |
| 3–6 | 27 (52.9) | 16 (39.0) | 14 (27.5) | 25 (54.3) | 13 (40.6) | 21 (45.7) |
| 7+ | 18 (35.3) | 23 (56.1) | 32 (62.7) | 15 (32.7) | 16 (50.0) | 22 (47.8) |
| How often having 6+ or 8+ units on a single occasion? | ||||||
| Never | – | 1 (2.4) | 2 (3.9) | – | 1 (3.0) | 2 (4.4) |
| ≤Monthly | 26 (50.9) | 24 (58.5) | 32 (61.5) | 29 (63.0) | 22 (66.7) | 32 (71.1) |
| Weekly, almost daily or daily | 25 (49.1) | 16 (39.1) | 18 (34.6) | 17 (37.0) | 10 (30.3) | 11 (24.5) |
| AUDIT score | 10.59±3.8 (11, 8–13) | – | 9.31±3.7 (9, 6–12) | 9.37±3.2 (9, 7–12) | – | 8.89±3.3 (9, 7–11) |
| Total weekly alcohol units consumed? | 30.62±28.0 (24, 9–46) | 19.04±18.2 (14, 7–28) | 17.43±17.1 (15, 0–26) | 19.71±14.2 (18, 9–29) | 17.74±15.9 (13, 5–26) | 17.66±19.1 (13, 2–25) |
| Hazardous or harmful drinking† | ||||||
| Yes | 32 (61.5) | 19 (46.3) | 24 (46.2) | 24 (52.2) | 14 (42.4) | 19 (42.2) |
| No | 20 (38.5) | 22 (53.7) | 28 (53.8) | 22 (47.8) | 19 (57.6) | 26 (57.8) |
| Total units on the heaviest day | 14.2±12.6 (12, 6–19) | 9.57±6.9 (10, 4–14) | 9.96±9.3 (8, 0–16) | 11.4±6.8 (11, 7–16) | 10.4±7.8 (11, 4–16) | 9.8±9.8 (9, 2–14) |
| Drink with an intention of getting drunk? | ||||||
| ≤Monthly | 3 (16.7) | 1 (9.1) | 11 (21.2) | 2 (12.5) | 1 (12.5) | 13 (28.3) |
| 2–4 Times monthly | 4 (22.2) | 7 (63.6) | 19 (36.5) | 3 (18.7) | 3 (37.5) | 18 (39.1) |
| 2+Weekly | 8 (44.4) | 2 (18.2) | 21 (40.4) | 9 (56.3) | 2 (25.0) | 12 (26.1) |
| 4+Weekly | 3 (16.7) | 1 (9.1) | 1 (1.9) | 2 (12.5) | 2 (25.0) | 3 (6.5) |
| Advice on alcohol use | ||||||
| Yes | 35 (67.3) | – | 1 (4.6) | 29 (63.0) | – | 0 (0.0) |
| No | 17 (32.7) | 11 (100.0) | 21 (95.4) | 17 (37.0) | 8 (100.0) | 17 (100.0) |
*Continuous variables are presented by mean±SD (median, IQR); categorical variables are presented by frequency and percentage in parentheses [n (%)].
†>14 units/week in women, >21 units/week in men.
AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; IQR, interquartile range.