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document
A randomized trial of a brief alcohol intervention for needle exchangers ( BRAINE ) . AIMS To test motivational interviewing ( MI ) as a brief intervention for reducing alcohol use among needle exchange clients . DESIGN Randomized clinical trial . SETTING Needle exchange program-Providence , Rhode Island , USA . PARTICIPANTS Between 2/98 and 10/99 , we recruited 187 AUDIT-positive ( > 8 ) active injection drug users . INTERVENTION Those assigned to a brief motivational intervention ( MI ) condition received two 1-hour therapist sessions following assessment visits , 1 month apart , focusing on alcohol use and HIV risk-taking . MEASUREMENTS Control and MI subjects received identical research assessments at baseline , 1 and 6 months following study enrollment . At 6 months , study outcomes included days of alcohol use measured using the time-line follow-back method . FINDINGS Study retention was 96.8 % at 6 months . Participants reported an average of 12.0 drinking days at baseline and 8.3 at 6 months . Significant reductions in drinking days were observed in both treatment conditions . We found significant treatment x baseline drinking day interaction effects . Tests for simple main effects were significant for subjects with above median ( > 9 ) baseline drinking day frequency , but not for those with below median baseline drinking frequency . Comparisons on dichotomous outcomes provided supporting evidence of treatment efficacy ; those in MI were over two times more likely than controls to report reductions of 7 days or more ( P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSIONS This study provides the first direct evidence that brief MI can decrease alcohol use among active injection drug users with drinking problems . Heavier drinkers seem best suited for this intervention , but the optimal intensity of treatments and which components of brief intervention are most effective deserve further study .
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Intervention_Educational
brief alcohol intervention
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Intervention_Educational
motivational interviewing ( MI )
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Intervention_Educational
brief motivational intervention ( MI )
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Intervention_Educational
two 1-hour therapist sessions following assessment visits
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Intervention_Control
Control
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Intervention_Educational
MI
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Intervention_Educational
brief MI
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Outcome_Physical
alcohol use
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Outcome_Physical
days of alcohol use
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Outcome_Physical
Study retention
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Outcome_Physical
drinking days
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Outcome_Physical
baseline drinking day interaction effects .
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Outcome_Physical
median ( > 9 ) baseline drinking day frequency
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Outcome_Physical
baseline drinking frequency .
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Outcome_Physical
treatment efficacy ;
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Participant_Sample-size
187 AUDIT-positive ( > 8 ) active injection drug users