Excessive drinking--brief intervention by a primary health care nurse. A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a nurse-conducted intervention on excessive drinkers.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: Vårby Health Centre, Stockholm.

Intervention: The intervention group visited a nurse three times during a 12-month period. The controls met once with a general practitioner (GP).

Patients: Patients were recruited at a health screening on the basis of a raised gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Of 2338 subjects, aged 25-54 years, 222 had a screening GGT of > or = 0.9 mukat/l. 100 were randomized to the treatment and 122 to the control group.

Main Outcome Measures: GGT, self-reported alcohol consumption (g/week), sickness allowance and use of health care.

Results: After 2 years a reduction of GGT from 1.52 to 1.21 mukat/l (p = 0.02) had occurred in the treatment group. The controls increased their mean level of GGT from 1.75 to 2.16 mukat/l. Mean weekly alcohol consumption in the intervention group was reduced from 337 to 228 g/week (p = 0.02). The controls did not quantify their alcohol consumption initially, but reported a reduced weekly consumption at follow-up.

Conclusion: The intervention had an impact on GGT and self-reported consumption. The controls also reported decreased consumption possibly because their appointment with the GP functioned as a very brief intervention.