Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Jul 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyBrief alcohol intervention in the emergency department: moderators of effectiveness.
Prior research supports the effectiveness of brief interventions for reducing alcohol misuse among patients in the emergency department (ED). However, limited information is available regarding the mechanisms of change, which could assist clinicians in streamlining or amplifying these interventions. This article examines moderators of outcomes among ED patients, ages 19 and older, who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention for alcohol misuse. ⋯ This study provides novel data regarding attribution for alcohol-related injury as an important moderator of change and suggests that highlighting the alcohol/injury connection in brief, ED-based alcohol interventions can augment their effectiveness.
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Jul 2008
Alcohol-attributable fraction for injury in the U.S. general population: data from the 2005 National Alcohol Survey.
Although studies of patients seen in emergency department (ED) settings have documented a strong association of alcohol with injury, such patients are not necessarily representative of the larger population, and less is known of alcohol's association with risk of injury in patient samples outside the ED. ⋯ The data suggest that alcohol plays a larger role in those injuries for which treatment is sought in EDs, and this may be related to the severity of the injury. Additional studies of alcohol and injury in general populations that take into account the intensity of exposure to alcohol before the event, as well as recall bias by eliciting data on the proximity of the event to the time of the respondent interview, are necessary for determining unbiased estimates of the attributable fraction of alcohol in injury morbidity.