Association Between Alcohol Brief Intervention and Emergency Department and Inpatient Utilization Over 2…

ObservationalAlcohol, clinical & experimental research· Aug 2026

Association Between Alcohol Brief Intervention and Emergency Department and Inpatient Utilization Over 2 Years.

Andrew M Ballester, Felicia W Chi, Stacy A Sterling

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Hospital MedicineObservationalClinical practiceQ1IF 2.4

Alcohol brief intervention associated with lower odds of emergency department use over 2 years.

Association Between Alcohol Brief Intervention and Emergency Department and Inpatient Utilization Over 2 Years.

Andrew M Ballester … Stacy A Sterling

Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · Aug 2026 · Q1 in General Medicine

Background

Brief Interventions (Brief Interventions) in primary care are an effective, evidence-based tool for reducing the cost and harm associated with unhealthy alcohol use.

Purpose

This study aims to examine the association between receiving a Brief Interventions in the outpatient setting and Emergency Department (Emergency Department) and inpatient utilization over 2 years among adults screening positive for unhealthy alcohol use.

Methods

Were grouped by whether or not they received a Brief Interventions for unhealthy alcohol use from their primary physician at the index date.

n = 254,190 adult

Results

brief intervention lowered Emergency Department visits over the following 2 years

aOR 0.96 (95% CI 0.94 to 0.98)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

However, the association between Brief Interventions and Emergency Department utilization attenuated over time, and receiving a Brief Interventions was only significantly associated with lower inpatient utilization in the first 6 months following index.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

The observed reductions in Emergency Department and inpatient utilization contribute novel insight into the duration of Brief Interventions's harm-reduction effects.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Ultimately, our findings support widespread implementation of Brief Interventions programs in primary care settings as a means of reducing acute healthcare utilization.

Association Between Alcohol Brief Intervention and Emergency Department and Inpatient Utilization Over 2 Years.

Association Between Alcohol Brief Intervention and Emergency Department and Inpatient Utilization Over 2 Years.

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