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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Robert G. Laforge, ScD¹, Robert Schneider, EdD², Beth Schlicting, MPH¹, Xiaowu Sun, PhD³, Carlo DiClemente, PhD⁴, Mary Jo Larson, PhD⁵, Colleen Redding, PhD⁴, Joseph Rossi, PhD¹, Wayne Velicer, PhD¹, Mark Wood, PhD¹, James O. Prochaska¹, and William Zwick, PhD⁶. (1) Department of Psychology / CPRC, University of Rhode Island, 2 Chafee Rd, 48W CPRC Buiilding, Kingston, RI 02818, 401 874-5571, rlaforge@uri.edu, (2) Behavioral Health Department, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 111 Grossman Drive, Braintree, MA 02184., (3) Quality Metric Inc, 640 George Washington Highway, Lincoln, RI 02865, (4) Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 9728 Starling Road, Ellicott City, MD 21042, (5) Institute for Health Services Research and Policy, New England Research Institutes, 9 Galen Street, Watertown, MA 02472, (6) Recovery Associates LLC, 46-001 Kam. Highway, Castle Professional Building, Suite 409D, Kaneohe, HI 96744

PARR is a randomized population based trial of a brief intervention involving a series of three individually tailored computer generated feedback reports for alcohol risk reduction mailed over a six month period to nondependent ‘at risk' drinkers proactively recruited from the active membership of a managed care organization. Over 11,000 MCO members were screened for ‘at-risk' drinking; exceeding the NIAAA Physician recommended weekly intake levels (14/7 drinks), or reported heavy episodic “binge” drinking in the last month. Sample characteristics: 51% male, 89% white; [M(std)] age 42.8(12.7), BMI 25.8(4.5), alcohol drinks/week 8.4(9.0), “binge” episodes/mo: 1.9(3.4), and AUDIT score 5.9(3.3). Data for this paper is from 6 waves of assessment for 868 participants randomized to intervention or assessment-matched control groups. Two-year intervention effects on primary drinking outcomes are presented. GEE and random coefficient regression model results show consistent treatment group reductions in alcohol use across multiple indicators over time. Significant treatment group reductions on number of number of drinks/week, and number of at-risk alcohol behaviors were seen at the 6, 12 and 18 month assessments. Reductions in frequency of binge drinking, peak (30 day max) drinks, and alcohol “at-risk status” (0,1) were seen at all time points, although were significantly different from controls only at 12 month assessment. This study demonstrates that low-cost brief computer generated feedback has the potential for important public health impact by reducing high risk alcohol use among the large segment of at risk drinkers who typically do not receive intervention for risky alcohol use.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe a low cost proactive brief intervention useful for reducing alcohol use among managed care members. They will be able to discuss the results of the efficacy trial with respect to the proactical application of ancilliary behavioral health intervention programs and expected changes in drinking outcomes.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Managed Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered