Abstract
In the study by Bertholet et al. in this issue of JGIM,1 most medical inpatients who screened positive for unhealthy drinking and enrolled in a trial of a brief alcohol intervention had alcohol dependence.1 The trial, reported previously,2 found no benefit of the single brief intervention, and 67% of participants were still drinking heavily and/or having symptoms due to drinking 1 year later.1 Although the secondary analyses reported by Bertholet et al. identified three predictor measures that were associated with subsequent improved drinking outcomes, only one of the measures—alcohol treatment in the year after hospitalization—could be influenced by medical providers. The other two predictors of improved outcomes were patient characteristics at the time of admission.1
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