Low-tech system overcomes barriers preventing doctor-patient chat about drinking habits
About 25 to 30 percent of the general U.S. population drinks alcohol at a level that, while not diagnosed as alcoholism, is high enough to qualify as unhealthy, says Gail Rose, Ph.D., a behavioral health researcher at the University of Vermont (UVM) and lead author on the study. And heavy drinking, she adds, has a strong influence on health, and can diminish the efficacy of some medications, among other negative effects. "But it's a stigmatized topic," says Rose, and since clinicians have so many topics to discuss with patients, drinking habits often fall off the list. In addition, some physicians don't view alcoholism as a medical problem. Previous research has shown that patients with drinking problems can benefit from even a short conversation with their physicians, but getting them to that point has been a challenge. In their study of more than 1,500 patients at eight internal medicine and family medicine practices affiliated with a university medical center...