WOMEN AND ALCOHOL-ABUSE IN PRIMARY-CARE - IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION

Female problem drinkers are less likely than men to be identified in t he primary care setting. The authors studied 24 adult women attending a general internal medicine clinic to assess the efficiency of self-re ports of alcohol consumption when compared with physician identificati on and other measures and the impact of a brief intervention on alcoho l consumption. Despite the high rate of lifetime (79%) and current (67 %) alcohol diagnoses, no patient was in alcohol treatment. Physician i dentification of alcohol problems was least sensitive but most specifi c, when compared with other measures. Brief intervention, as offered i n this study, did not appear to modify alcohol consumption.