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CompletedNCT03273283PPAUUpdated May 15, 2020Results posted

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Specialized Brief Intervention for Hazardous Drinkers in an Emergency Department.

An interventional study of Brief Intervention in Alcohol Drinking, sponsored by Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Completed. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-05-15.

Sponsored by Hospital Clinic of Barcelona · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
200
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Alcohol use and its consequences represent an important public health problem. As well as alcohol dependence, hazardous drinking also contributes to a high burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. To improve these patients' prognosis and decrease associated social and health care costs, it is necessary to increase early detection, intervention and treatment for these problems. For these reasons, SBIRT programmes (Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) have been developed, evaluated and shown to be effective, particularly in primary care and general practice. Nevertheless, effectiveness of SBIRT in emergency departments (ED) has not been clearly established.

The investigators aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of an SBIRT programme in the ED of a tertiary hospital.

Read the detailed description

The investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial to study the feasibility and efficacy of an SBIRT programme for hazardous drinkers presenting in an ED. All patients older than 18 years old attending the emergency department were potentially eligible. Cognitively impaired or medically unstable patients were excluded. Patients seeking treatment for alcohol use were also excluded. Patients were randomized to two groups, with the control group receiving two leaflets - one regarding alcohol use, and the other giving information about the study protocol. The intervention group received the same leaflets as well as a brief motivational intervention on alcohol use; and, where appropriate, a referral to specialised treatment. The primary outcomes were the proportion of hazardous drinkers measured by AUDIT-C scale and the proportion of patients attending specialised treatment at 1.5 and 4.5 months and 1 year.

02

Conditions studied

  • Alcohol Drinking

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03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • All patients aged 18 or older attending to the emergency department were potentially eligible patients
  • Patients with an AUDIT-C score higher than 6 points for men and 5 for woman were invited to participate

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive impairment
  • Medically unstable
  • Patients explicitly demanding alcohol treatment
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
200 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention

    Patients received a brief intervention on alcohol use. This brief intervention was a little chat based on motivational techniques to enhance motivation to reduce alcohol use or to initiate treatment. Patients were referred to specialized treatment when indicated.

    Behavioral: Brief Intervention

  • No intervention
    Control

    Informative leaflets regarding alcohol use

Interventions

  • BehavioralBrief Intervention

    Patient's received a brief intervention on alcohol use based on motivational techniques, and a referral to treatment when indicated.

    Also known as: Referral to treatment

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of Risky Drinkers Measured by AUDIT-C

    We assessed participants with AUDIT-C (a tool to assess alcohol consumption). Main outcome 1 is the proportion of patients who score more than 6 i men and 5 in women in this scale. AUDIT-C is the short version of the AUDIT scale (Alcohol use disorders identification test). Consists of a three items scale ( frequency of alcohol consumption, amount of alcohol units per day of consumption and frequency of binge drinking), and ranges from 0 (abstinence) to 12 (very high alcohol use). The higher the score is, the more important the alcohol use is, and more risk of presenting an alcohol use disorder.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  2. Proportion of Patients Attending to Specialized Treatment

    Proportion of patients that initate specialized treatment to reduce alcohol use

    Time frame: 6 weeks

06

Results

Posted May 15, 2020

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneInterventionControl
Started99101
Completed7281
Not completed2720

Outcome measures

PrimaryProportion of Risky Drinkers Measured by AUDIT-C

We assessed participants with AUDIT-C (a tool to assess alcohol consumption). Main outcome 1 is the proportion of patients who score more than 6 i men and 5 in women in this scale. AUDIT-C is the short version of the AUDIT scale (Alcohol use disorders identification test). Consists of a three items scale ( frequency of alcohol consumption, amount of alcohol units per day of consumption and frequency of binge drinking), and ranges from 0 (abstinence) to 12 (very high alcohol use). The higher the score is, the more important the alcohol use is, and more risk of presenting an alcohol use disorder.

Time frame:
6 weeks
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Proportion of Risky Drinkers Measured by AUDIT-C
ParticipantsInterventionControl
Proportion of Risky Drinkers Measured by AUDIT-C2039
PrimaryProportion of Patients Attending to Specialized Treatment

Proportion of patients that initate specialized treatment to reduce alcohol use

Time frame:
6 weeks
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Proportion of Patients Attending to Specialized Treatment
ParticipantsInterventionControl
Proportion of Patients Attending to Specialized Treatment178

Adverse events

Collected over 6 weeks. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Intervention2/99 (2%)0/99 (0%)0/99 (0%)
Control1/101 (1%)0/101 (0%)0/101 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

At baseline, participants' demographic and enrollment-related characteristics were compared across treatment conditions using t- and chi-square tests according to the nature of each variable.

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)InterventionControlTotal
Mean41.6 ± 16.244 ± 17.142.81 ± 16.8
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)InterventionControlTotal
Female282856
Male7173144
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected(Participants)InterventionControlTotal
Count of participants——0
Alcohol related presenting condition
Alcohol related presenting condition(Participants)InterventionControlTotal
Count of participants121123
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Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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References and documents

Publications

  • Bruguera P, Barrio P, Manthey J, Oliveras C, Lopez-Pelayo H, Nuno L, Miquel L, Lopez-Lazcano A, Blithikioti C, Caballeria E, Matrai S, Rehm J, Vieta E, Gual A. Mid and long-term effects of a SBIRT program for at-risk drinkers attending to an emergency department. Follow-up results from a randomized controlled trial. Eur J Emerg Med. 2021 Oct 1;28(5):373-379. doi: 10.1097/MEJ.0000000000000810. PubMed 33709997 ↗

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Sep 8, 2016

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — There is nno plan, but we have already shared and will continue sharing them

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Csr

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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03273283
Lead sponsor
Hospital Clinic of Barcelona
Responsible party
Antoni Gual (Head of the Addiction Unit, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 6, 2017
Start date
Jun 1, 2016
Primary completion
Feb 28, 2018
Completion
May 1, 2018
Results posted
May 15, 2020
Last update
May 15, 2020

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in May 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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