@article{ref1,
title="Controlled study of brief personalized assessment-feedback for drinkers interested in self-help",
journal="Addiction",
year="2007",
author="Wild, T. Cameron and Cunningham, John Alastair and Roberts, Amanda B.",
volume="102",
number="2",
pages="241-250",
abstract="AIMS: Brief alcohol interventions typically have been directed to heavy-drinking patients seeking primary health care and college students. This study examined the efficacy of mailing brief personalized assessment-feedback to interested drinkers recruited from the general public. We hypothesized that problem drinkers would benefit more from the intervention than individuals who were not problem drinkers. DESIGN: A two-arm, double-blinded, community-based randomized controlled trial with 6-month follow-up. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A screening interview was administered to a stratified random sample of 10 014 Canadians 18 years of age and older (5621 women and 4393 men; M age = 43.3 years, SD = 15.99; response rate = 65.4%). INTERVENTION: Current drinkers interested in receiving alcohol self-help materials (n = 1727) were assigned randomly to receive brief personalized assessment-feedback on male and female population drinking norms by mail, or to a delayed-treatment control group, and were contacted 6 months later (76% retention rate). MEASUREMENTS: Problem drinking status at baseline [using sex-specific Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) cut scores], and frequency and quantity of alcohol use at follow-up. FINDINGS: Analysis of covariance identified the hypothesized interaction of baseline problem drinking status and treatment condition (P < 0.01). Among problem drinkers identified at baseline the intervention caused a 10.1% reduction in per-occasion binge drinking compared to controls, whereas there was no difference in binge drinking across conditions for non-problem drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: The continuum of care for alcohol problems can be broadened by providing brief interventions to interested drinkers in the general population.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0965-2140",
doi="10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01682.x",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01682.x"
}