BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The integration of evidence-based mental health practices into VA primary care is a top priority for VHA reflected in the initiative to implement brief alcohol counseling into VA primary care as a National Performance Measure. This initiative is in response to the large percentage of Veterans screening positive for alcohol misuse nationwide (22%). One of the main goals of this study is to further support this initiative by testing methods for treating alcohol misuse in Veterans presenting to a VA primary care clinic.

OBJECTIVE(S):
The primary objective of this study is to compare the relative effectiveness of a computerized motivational intervention plus treatment-as-usual to treatment-as-usual alone on Veteran alcohol consumption. VA administrative data will be used in conjunction with outcome data to determine the impact of SUD-related health care utilization on response to treatment for alcohol misuse delivered in VA primary care. The impact of brief alcohol interventions on VA health care utilization will also be examined.

METHODS:
Veterans screening positive on the AUDIT-C were randomly assigned to one of two conditions - computerized motivational intervention plus treatment-as-usual (TAU) or TAU alone. Participants completed an assessment battery at baseline, three-month, and six- month post-treatment. Primary outcomes include percentage of heavy drinking days, average number of drinks per day, total number of drinking days, and alcohol-related problems.

FINDINGS/RESULTS:
Not yet available.

IMPACT:
The findings from this study may lead to many important benefits for improving mental health care for Veterans presenting to VA primary care. Some of these benefits include: (a) helping to identify low-cost evidence-based practices for treating alcohol misuse in VA primary care; (b) specifying Veterans characteristics associated with a beneficial response to such interventions; and (c) the impact of brief alcohol interventions of VA health care utilization.

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External Links for this Project

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PUBLICATIONS:

None at this time.

DRA: Mental, Cognitive and Behavioral Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, Health Systems Science
DRE: Treatment - Observational, Treatment - Comparative Effectiveness
Keywords: Alcohol
MeSH Terms: none