Evaluate the effectiveness and ethnic differences of a brief alcohol intervention for injured patients

Condition	Intervention
Injuries Alcohol Related Disorders	Behavior: Brief intervention based on motivational interviewing  Behavior: Standard Care including referral for treatment

Further Study Details: 

Primary Outcomes: alcohol intake; injury recidivism
Secondary Outcomes: alcohol problems; injury related risk behaviors
Expected Total Enrollment:  2400

Injuries are not isolated events or one time occurrences and injury has been identified as an important public health problem. Among the risk factors associated with injury and injury recidivism, the most widely recognized is alcohol use with approximately 50% of all injuries associated with alcohol. In general, alcohol use and drinking patterns vary by ethnicity, with frequent heavy drinking and associated problems more common among Blacks and Hispanics. Blacks, in general, suffer a disproportionate level of alcohol problems, despite having higher rates of abstention than Whites and Hispanics. Hispanics also generally suffer more alcohol-related problems than whites. Overall, injury recidivism is higher among poorer, minority populations and among individuals who abuse alcohol. The efficacy of brief alcohol interventions in the emergency care setting such as hospital emergency departments and trauma care centers is a relatively new area of research. Brief alcohol interventions appear to reduce alcohol intake and rates of injury following hospitalization; however, there is a need to evaluate the efficacy of these brief interventions in various ethnic groups. The proposed research involves a randomized controlled trial of a brief alcohol intervention based upon motivational interviewing and harm reduction to reduce alcohol consumption and injury following admission to an emergency room or trauma department for treatment of an injury. The primary aim of the proposed project is to determine the efficacy of this intervention as applied in the trauma care and emergency room setting among Whites, Blacks and Hispanics. The three outcomes of interest include 1) Alcohol consumption as measured by number of standard drinks consumed per week and frequency of drinking five or more drinks per occasion engagement in injury related risk behaviors and 3) injury recidivism rates. It is hypothesized that the brief alcohol intervention will have a greater impact on alcohol consumption, injury related risk behaviors and injury recidivism among Whites than Blacks and Mexican Americans. In addition, it is hypothesized that the that the brief alcohol intervention will have less of an impact on alcohol consumption, injury related risk behaviors and injury recidivism among Mexican Americans born in the United States than among those born in Mexico after controlling for acculturation, acculturation stress and sociodemographic characteristics.

Ages Eligible for Study:  18 Years and above,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• admission for treatment of an injury
• self identification of Black, White or Hispanic Ethnicity
• Age > 17
• screen positive for potential alcohol related injury based upon clinical indication of alcohol use prior to injury including positive blood alcohol concentration, self report of alcohol use prior to injury, heavy drinking or drinking beyond normal limits as defined by NIAAA

Exclusion Criteria:

• Glasgow Coma Score or GCS < 14
• Admission for self inflicted injury

Texas
      Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas,  Texas,  75235,  United States
      UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas,  Texas,  75390,  United States

Study chairs or principal investigators

Raul Caetano, MD, PhD,  Principal Investigator,  University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health Dallas Campus   
Craig A Field, PhD, MPH,  Study Director,  UT Health Science Center at Houston; School of Public Health; Dallas Campus   

Study ID Numbers:  R01AA013824
Last Updated:  August 18, 2005
Record first received:  August 16, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00132262
Health Authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-09-13