Brief intervention for alcohol is in the top-five most cost-effective preventive services coming in equal to or higher than many common screening services like Pap smears and bowel cancer screening, according to the study to be published in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
"Reviewing this data and stepping back, it really struck me how truly important this finding is," said lead author Leif Solberg, M.D., associate medical director for care improvement research at Health Partners in Minneapolis. "It's a service most physicians don't offer."
In terms of costs, the study found that each screening and counseling session cost about $10 per patient.
Screening and brief counseling reduced problem drinking by 17.4 percent over a period that varied from six months to two years among studies, the study said, noting that more than one in six problem drinkers who received these brief interventions no longer fit that definition six months to two years later.
