Standardized alcohol education: a hit or miss affair?

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of akohol education on patients drinking to excess. Four hundred and twenty-eight patients admitted to nine medical and orthopaedic wards of a District General Hospital were identified as drinking at unsafe levels. Patients were allocated to an alcohol-education group or a no-intervention group; all patients received routine medical care. Three hundred and sixty-one patients were re-interviewed a year after admission to hospital Although some patients who had received alcohol education had fewer alcohol-related health problems at follow-up than members of the no-intervention group, there were no further differences between groups. Standardized alcohol education did not affect consumption or associated harm, further research is needed to assess whether personal intervention is more effective.