• Judith K Ockene, George W Reed, and Sarah Reiff-Hekking.
• Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. Judith.Ockene@umassmed.edu
• Ann Behav Med. 2009 Jun 1; 37 (3): 335-42.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the effect at 48 months of a screening and brief patient-centered physician- and nurse practitioner-delivered intervention implemented during a routine primary care visit on the reduction of alcohol consumption by high-risk drinkers.MethodsParticipants seen in primary care practices previously randomized to special intervention (SI) or usual care (UC) were reconsented for long-term follow-up. From the initial cohort, 63% reconsented to participate and provided follow-up at 48 months between November 1996 and March 2002. The data for this paper were analyzed in June 2004.ResultsAt 48 months, SI participants maintained significant reductions in drinks per week seen at 6 and 12 months. However, there were no longer significant differences in drinks per week, binges per month, percentage of low-risk drinking, relapse rates, and new quits between the SI and UC groups at 48 months that had been seen at earlier follow-up. There was a significant effect of prior low-risk drinking status at 12 months; those who were low-risk drinkers at 12 months were more likely to stay low-risk drinkers at 48 months regardless of treatment group.ConclusionsWith a single brief intervention, SI participants had significantly greater reductions in their drinking levels at 6 and 12 months compared to UC participants and maintained the lower-risk levels at 48 months resulting in a reduction in health risk exposure time. However, the significant group differences in treatment effect seen in earlier follow-ups were not maintained.

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