Effect of a Novel Brief Motivational Intervention for Alcohol-Intoxicated Young Adults in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE: Heavy drinking among young adults is a major public health concern. Brief motivational interventions in the emergency department have shown promising but inconsistent results. OBJECTIVE: To test whether young adults receiving a newly developed brief motivational intervention reduce their number of heavy drinking days and alcohol-related problems over 1 year compared with participants receiving brief advice. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted at an emergency department of a tertiary care university hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland. Recruitment ran from December 2016 to August 2019. Follow-up was conducted after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. All adults aged 18 to 35 years presenting for any cause and presenting with alcohol intoxication were eligible (N = 2108); 1764 were excluded or refused participation. Follow-up rate was 79% at 12 months and 89% of participants provided follow-up data at least once and were included in the primary analyses. Statistical analysis was performed from September 2020 to January 2021. INTERVENTIONS: The novel intervention was based on motivational interviewing and comprised in-person discussion in the emergency department and up to 3 booster telephone calls. The control group received brief advice. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcomes were the number of heavy drinking days (at least 60 g of ethanol) over the previous month and the total score on the Short Inventory of Problems (0-45, higher scores indicating more problems) over the previous 3 months. Hypotheses tested were formulated before data collection. RESULTS: There were 344 young adults included (median [IQR] age: 23 [20-28] years; 84 women [24.4%]). Among the 306 participants providing at least 1 follow-up point, a statistically significant time × group interaction was observed (β = −0.03; 95% CI, −0.05 to 0.00; P = .02), and simple slopes indicated an increase of heavy drinking days over time in the control (β = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.05; P < .001) but not in the intervention group (β = 0.01; 95% CI, −0.01 to 0.03; P = .24). There was no effect on the Short Inventory of Problems score (β = −0.01; 95% CI, −0.03 to 0.02; P = .71). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This randomized clinical trial found that a brief motivational intervention implemented in the emergency department provided beneficial effects on heavy drinking, which accounts for a substantial portion of mortality and disease burden among young adults. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry: 13832949