Prevalence of successful alcohol reduction attempts among risky drinkers: A national survey in England

Little is known about the success of alcohol reduction attempts made outside of an experimental setting, and the association between brief alcohol interventions and other evidence-based support and the success of these attempts. This study aimed to answer these questions among risky drinkers using observational data (baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys) from England between 2014 and 2016 (n=3,129). Around one third (31.4%, 95% CI=29.8-33.0) of risky drinkers reported making an alcohol reduction attempt between baseline and 6-month follow-up. Of those making an attempt, nearly two-thirds (64.1%, 95% CI=61.1-67.1) self-reported their attempt was successful. Those who received a brief alcohol intervention in primary care were 3-times more likely to report their attempt was successful (ORadj=3.01, 95% CI=1.87-4.82). No association was detected between using evidence-based support during an attempt and self-reported success (ORadj=0.87, 95% CI=0.47-1.66). A different pattern of results was found when using AUDIT score at 6-month follow-up (adjusted for baseline) as the outcome: receiving (vs. not receiving) a brief alcohol intervention in primary care (Badj=3.56, 95% CI=2.78-4.35) and using (vs. not using) evidence-based support during an alcohol reduction attempt (Badj=1.89, 95% CI=0.72-3.06) was associated with higher AUDIT scores. These findings were not robust to sensitivity analyses, highlighting the importance of using measures focused on more recent alcohol consumption in this type of study design. Further research is needed to unpick these findings and to capture the potential heterogeneity in goals for alcohol reduction attempts.