Alcohol brief intervention reduces unhealthy drinking habit and lowers BP in hypertensives

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found promising effects of Alcohol brief intervention (BI) in reducing unhealthy alcohol intake and improving health outcomes.

Alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor for several chronic diseases, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Felicia Shi and peers evaluated the effectiveness of alcohol BI in this study using electronic health records data. The study was conducted in an integrated healthcare system that implemented a system-wide alcohol screening and BI program for adult primary care patients.

The key highlights of the study were:

72,979 patients with hypertension and 19,642 patients with T2D who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use between 2014 and 2017 were enrolled.

The main outcome measures included changes in drinking behaviors and health outcomes over a 12-month and 18-month follow-up period. Results showed that patients with hypertension who received BI had a significant reduction in drinks per drinking day and drinks per week at 12 months, compared to those who did not receive BI.

Additionally, patients with hypertension who received BI had higher odds of having clinically meaningful reduction in diastolic blood pressure at 18 months.

However, no significant associations were observed between BI and drinking or health outcomes among patients with T2D. This study highlights the potential for alcohol BI to reduce drinking and improve health outcomes among patients with hypertension who screen positive for unhealthy alcohol consumption. However, more research is needed to understand why similar associations were not observed among patients with T2D and to study the long-term public health impact of BI programs.

Source:

Chi, F. W., Parthasarathy, S., Palzes, V. A., Kline-Simon, A. H., Weisner, C. M., Satre, D. D., Grant, R. W., Elson, J., Ross, T. B., Awsare, S., Lu, Y., Metz, V. E., & Sterling, S. A. (2023). Associations between alcohol brief intervention in primary care and drinking and health outcomes in adults with hypertension and type 2 diabetes: a population-based observational study. In BMJ Open (Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. e064088). BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064088