The Journal of family practice
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Spirituality is receiving greater attention in the medical literature, especially in the family practice journals. A widely applicable instrument to assess spirituality has been lacking, however, and this has hampered research on the relationship between spirituality and health in the clinical setting. ⋯ The Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS) appears to have good reliability and validity. Compared with other instruments that assess spirituality, the SIBS has several theoretical advantages, including broader scope, use of terms that avoid cultural-religious bias, and assessment of both beliefs and actions. More testing is underway to further assess its usefulness.
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Brief interventions with problem drinkers have been shown to be effective, but physicians often do not ask about alcohol use. If a single question could effectively screen for problem drinking, it might facilitate intervention with problem drinkers. ⋯ A single question about alcohol can detect at-risk drinking and current alcohol-use disorders with clinically useful positive and negative predictive values.