Will emergency and surgical patients participate in and complete alcohol interventions? A systematic review

A systematic literature search was followed by extraction of acceptance and adherence rates in ED and surgical patients. Numbers needed to screen (NNS) were calculated. Subgroup analyses were carried out based on different study characteristics.The literature search revealed 33 relevant studies. Of these, 31 were randomized trials, 28 were conducted in EDs and 31 evaluated the effect of brief alcohol intervention. Follow-up was mainly conducted after six and/or twelve months.Four in five ED patients accepted alcohol screening and two in three accepted participation in intervention. In surgical patients, two in three accepted screening and the intervention acceptance rate was almost 100%. The adherence rate was above 60% for up to twelve months in both ED and surgical patients. The NNS to identify one eligible AUD patient and to get one eligible patient to accept participation in alcohol intervention varied from a few up to 70 patients.The rates did not differ between randomized and non-randomized trials, brief and intensive interventions or validated and self-reported alcohol consumption. Adherence rates were not affected by patients' group allocation and type of follow-up.Most emergency and surgical patients with AUD accept participation in alcohol screening and interventions and complete the intervention program.Staff working in emergency or surgical departments will frequently encounter patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). These include hazardous drinking exceeding a weekly or daily threshold as well as harmful and dependent drinking [1]. In emergency departments (ED) up to four in ten patients suffer from AUDs [2,3], and AUDs are especially widespread among trauma patients [4]. The frequency of AUD patients in elective surgery varies according to diagnosis and type of operation; for example are less than one in ten women undergoing hysterectomy AUD patients [5]. On the contrary, in patients undergoing tumor resection of the upper digestive tract up to six