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Screening for excessive drinkers in a Hampshire general practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Alistair James  and
Guy Edwards
Alistair James
Affiliation:
The Surgery, 20 Woodland Road, St Austell, PL25 4QY, England
Guy Edwards
Affiliation:
Chalybeate Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, S016 6UY, England
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Abstract

Objectives: To identify excessive drinking in a Hampshire general practice and evaluate the usefulness of the screening tools employed. Although excessive alcohol consumption is common, only one in 10 heavy drinkers is known to their general practitioner. Early identification of such patients increases the likelihood that successful intervention will decrease their alcohol intake. Screening helps recognise excessive drinkers.

Method: Three hundred and one patients consulting their general practitioner for any reason were interviewed using a questionnaire comprising a drinking history, CAGE, and brief MAST (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test). The medical records of patients identified as drinking excessively were reviewed.

Results: Forty-eight (15.9%) patients were identified as drinking to excess. Only nine of them were known to the general practitioner. The most useful tests were the drinking history and CAGE, detecting 21 and 20 of the excessive drinkers respectively. No single test used in isolation performed adequately, but the combination of a drinking history, including enquiry about binge drinking, and the CAGE was the most productive.

Conclusion: Screening for excessive drinking by taking a simple drinking history and using the CAGE is cheap and easy to administer. Only about one in five of the patients identified in this study had information concerning excessive alcohol intake in their GP records.

Keywords

AlcoholExcessive drinkingScreening instrumentsGeneral practice
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 13 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

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