Early intervention for hazardous drinking in the general hospital setting

The relationship between alcohol consumption and physical illness and injury is established. Despite the numerous estimates of the frequency with which problem drinkers are seen at general hospitals, it is unknown whether such cases are merely occasionally excessive drinkers and thus unlikely to go on to serious physical or psychiatric illness due to alcohol. Even if intervention were justified, it is uncertain whether such intervention would be effective. In this paper it is argued that treatment of the problem drinker identified in the general hospital can improve the outcome for him.