Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | J | Journal of Studies on Alcohol

Automated telephone screening for problem drinking *.

Article Excerpt
ALTHOUGH MORE THAN 18% of the population meet criteria for an alcohol disorder during their lifetime (Grant, 1997) and another 20% are engaged in problem drinking (Grant and Dawson, 1997), many of these people do not seek help (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2000). Reasons for not seeking help include believing that people should do it on their own, fear that others will find out, fear of being labeled alcoholic, or not being aware of having a problem (Grant, 1997; Higgins-Biddle et al., 1997). To reach these individuals, emphasis has shifted to early detection and intervention in primary-care practices. However, few patients are screened or given care in these settings, in part because busy practitioners are not trained in screening and follow-up care (NIAAA, 2000).

One way to improve screening is through the use of technologies designed for that purpose. Automated or computerized telephone systems can provide a low cost way to screen for alcohol problems. People access these systems by using a device (the telephone) that is familiar, ubiquitous, accessible, and even portable. It can provide access for people with poor reading skills or who speak languages other than English. Research has shown that automated systems are perceived by callers as being more anonymous than therapists or other health professionals and that people tend to be more truthful when reporting on embarrassing or personal issues to a computer than compared with a human professional (Gerbert et al., 1999; Turner et al., 1998).

Computerized assessment for alcohol problems has been shown to be reliable (Bernadt et al., 1989) but has primarily targeted people coming into specialty substance use treatment or research programs (Bernadt et al., 1989; Mundt et al., 2002; Perrine et al., 1995). Automated telephone interviewing using interactive voice response technology has been used to track daily drinking in a research setting. These systems have shown good to excellent validity when compared with both objective and subjective measures, especially for the heaviest drinkers (Mundt et al., 2002; Perrine et al., 1995; Searles et al., 1995). More recently, automated telephone interviewing has been compared favorably to traditional paper methods for collecting data on drinking patterns and medication adherence (Kranzler et al., 2004) as well as alcohol-related expectancies (Collins et al., 2003).

In this study, we developed and tested the reliability, validity, and user acceptance of an automated telephone version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), a widely accepted screening tool for problem drinking. In addition, callers who screened positive for problem drinking were asked for their reactions to the system and whether they would be willing to use it to change their drinking behavior.

Method

Design and development of the automated AUDIT

Telephone-Linked Communications (TLC), a set of computerized telephone technologies, was used to develop the program (Friedman et al., 1997). The...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!