Alcohol Brief Intervention Can Improve Health Outcomes in HTN

TUESDAY, Feb. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) — An alcohol brief intervention (BI) in primary care can improve health outcomes for adults with hypertension, according to a study published online Jan. 19 in BMJ Open.

Felicia W. Chi, M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, and colleagues examined the correlations between alcohol BI in primary care and outcomes among 72,929 adults with hypertension and 19,642 adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use. The study was conducted in a health care system that implemented alcohol screening, BI, and referral to treatment.

The researchers found that among patients with hypertension, there was a modest but significant additional −0.06 reduction in drinks/drinking day and an additional −0.30 reduction in drinks/week at 12 months for those who did versus those who did not receive BI. In addition, those who received BI had elevated odds for having a clinically meaningful reduction of diastolic blood pressure at 18 months (odds ratio, 1.05). No significant associations were found between BI and drinking or health outcomes among patients with T2D.

“BIs offered as part of a program of systematic screening and BI for unhealthy alcohol use may be an important addition to the primary care chronic disease prevention and intervention armamentarium,” the authors write.

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