Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Primary Health Care in Kazakhstan-Results of a Cluster Randomised Pilot Study.

The aim of this pilot trial was to assess the feasibility of ASBI in primary health care units (PHCUs) in Kazakhstan. A two-arm cluster randomised trial in five PHCUs based on the RE-AIM framework for implementation studies was carried out. Patients with AUDIT-C scores ≥4 for females and ≥5 for males received a brief face-to-face intervention delivered by a trained physician plus information leaflet (intervention group, IG) or simple feedback including a leaflet (control group, CG).

Feasibility of alcohol screening and brief intervention in primary health care in Kazakhstan: study protocol of a pilot cluster randomised trial.

Background: Identifying and addressing heavy drinking represents a major public health priority worldwide. Whilst the majority of alcohol screening and brief intervention (ASBI) research has been conducted in western, high-income countries, evidence is growing that ASBI can also impact positively on heavy drinkers in low- and middle-income country populations. This mixed methods study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a fully randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of ASBI in primary care in Kazakhstan and explore the feasibility and acceptability of implementing ASBI in this setting from patients' and physicians' perspectives.