Clinical Alcohol Screening, Treatment Guide Updated

Clinically screening patients for alcohol problems could be as easy as 1-2-3, thanks to Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician's Guide (Updated 2005 Edition), a free resource produced by NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAAA.

The 2005 edition was updated this year to include:

Available at no cost from the NIAAA Web site, the guide (PDF file: 40 pages / 488 KB. More about PDFs.) presents a four-step clinical screening approach that includes asking about alcohol use, assessing for alcohol use disorders, advising and assisting at-risk drinking and alcohol use disorders, and ongoing support. The clinical screening process is presented in a flowchart format, so that the initial conversation, appropriate responses and follow-up questions are clearly mapped out.

More than half of the guide is devoted to additional clinician support materials, including a written screening test in both English and Spanish, patient encounter templates, and referral resources. Patient information on drinking patterns and standard drinking amounts also is provided. Five pages of frequently asked questions conclude the guide.

Numerous other resources are available on the NIAAA site, including

The site also notes that online CME training on alcohol use screening and brief interventions will be added sometime in 2007.