Effect of electronic screening and brief intervention on hazardous or harmful drinking among adults in the hospital outpatient setting: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial

•Effect of electronic alcohol screening and brief intervention in adults was tested.•Most trials of this kind have been conducted in young people.•Participants were hospital outpatients with hazardous or harmful drinking.•There were no significant differences between the treatment groups on any outcome.•This program should not be implemented in the hospital outpatient setting. Most trials of electronic alcohol screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) have been conducted in young people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of e-SBI in adults with hazardous or harmful drinking. This individually randomized, parallel, two-group, double-blind controlled trial was conducted in the outpatient department of a large public hospital in Australia. Consenting adults who scored 5–9 on the AUDIT-C (837/3225; 26%) were randomized in a 1:1 ratio by computer to screening alone (442/837; 53%) or to 10 min of assessment and personalized feedback on their alcohol consumption (comparisons with medical guidelines and age and sex-specific norms), peak blood alcohol concentration, expenditure on alcohol, and risk of alcohol dependence (395/837; 47%). The two primary outcomes, assessed six months after randomization, were the number of standard drinks (10 g ethanol) consumed by participants in the last seven days and their AUDIT score. 693/837 (83%) and 635/837 (76%) participants were followed-up at 6 and 12 months, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the median number of standard drinks consumed in the last seven days (intervention: 12; control: 10.5; rate ratio, 1.12 [95% confidence interval, 0.96–1.31]; P = .17) or in their median AUDIT score (intervention: 7; control: 7; mean difference, 0.28 [-0.42 to 0.98]; P = .44). These results do not support the implementation of an e-SBI program comprising personalized feedback and normative feedback for adults with hazardous or harmful drinking in the hospital outpatient setting.