Using interactive voice response to enhance brief alcohol intervention in primary care settings.

Objective: Self-monitoring is recommended following brief alcohol intervention (BI). We have previously demonstrated that self-monitoring with an automated telephone system (interactive voice response; IVR) is associated with a steady reduction in alcohol consumption in the absence of BI. In this study we explore the feasibility and efficacy of IVR as a possible therapeutic enhancement for BI.

Brief intervention in alcohol-dependent versus nondependent individuals.

Objective: Randomized trials examining the effects of brief alcohol interventions by primary care providers have consistently excluded individuals with alcohol dependence. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a diagnosis of alcohol dependence, according to the criteria in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, predicted differential effectiveness of a brief intervention (BI).

Method: Retrospective analyses were performed on participants (N = 326) enrolled in a randomized trial designed to examine the impact of interactive voice response following BI.

Prevalence of DSM/ICD-defined nicotine dependence.

We conducted a qualitative review to estimate for adults (1) the lifetime and current prevalence of DSM/ICD-defined nicotine dependence and (2) the prevalence of individual DSM/ICD dependence criteria. Systematic computer searches and other methods located eleven population-based surveys of adults (>or=18 year olds) and two of young adults (18-30 year olds). In the USA and Germany, about 25% of adults had been dependent on nicotine in their lifetime, including 15% who were currently dependent.