General Practice and Other Primary Care Settings

Routine screening in general practice can identify people who drink at risky levels that are suitable for brief interventions, as about 85 per cent of the population visits their general practitioner at least once each year. General practitioners also have the resources and skills to offer a brief intervention and therefore have both the ability, and potential to substantially reduce risky levels of drinking.

A recent review found that brief interventions delivered in primary care settings reduced the amount of alcohol consumed in adolescents, young adults and adults who engaged in hazardous and harmful drinking; compared to no intervention, standard care or minimal treatment. This equated to a 20-gram (2 standard drink units) reduction in the quantity of alcohol consumed per week in adults over 12 months. Brief interventions are also likely to be a cost-effective option for reducing alcohol use in primary care settings, but have little impact on future primary healthcare or alcohol and drug service utilisation.

The level of evidence for effectiveness of brief interventions in primary care settings is strong. Routine screening for excessive alcohol consumption, and brief interventions are recommended for general practice settings.

Chapter	Recommendation	Grade of recommendation
6.4	Brief interventions reduce alcohol consumption in people with risky patterns of alcohol use accessing primary care settings, and should be routinely offered in these settings.	A
6.5	Brief interventions delivered in primary care settings are likely to be cost-effective, compared to treatment as usual.	A
6.6	Brief interventions delivered in primary care, emergency department, and general hospital inpatient settings have little impact on future healthcare or AOD service utilisation.	A