Doctors’ Own Drinking Behavior May Influence How They Discuss Unhealthy Alcohol Use with Patients

Doctors who drink more are less likely to offer screening and counseling about alcohol use to their patients. According to a systematic review of research published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, frequency and quantity of health care providers’ alcohol consumption were inversely associated with their clinical practices to help patients reduce unhealthy alcohol use. Doctors who drank three days a week or more were less likely to screen their patients for alcohol use, and those who drank larger quantities of alcohol offered less screening and counseling to their patients about unhealthy alcohol use.  Unhealthy alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death; health authorities recommend screening and intervention by health care providers as an effective intervention.

The review authors examined published studies reporting the association between health care providers’ alcohol use and their related preventive care practices. They found ten studies from the United States, Canada, and Europe, with sample sizes ranging from 70 to 4500 participants, including general practitioners, primary care physicians, general dental practitioners, internists, surgeons, and obstetricians/gynecologists. Nine of the ten studies were published between 2000 and 2018.

Of the ten studies, eight showed a significant association between how much alcohol health care providers drank and their practices to address their patients’ unhealthy alcohol use, one study found an association that was deemed non-significant, and one study found that the health care providers’ drinking patterns were not associated with their intention to provide advice to patients on alcohol use.

Both the frequency and quantity of health care providers’ alcohol consumption were inversely associated with their preventive care practices related to alcohol use. Health care providers who drank more frequently were less likely to screen for alcohol use and less likely to recommend that their patients quit drinking. Those who consumed higher quantities of alcohol offered fewer screenings for alcohol use, while health care providers who drank less alcohol were more likely to counsel their patients about alcohol. Doctors who drank heavily rated alcohol screening and counseling of low importance.

These findings are consistent with other research showing that health care providers’ personal behaviors influence the preventive care they offer their patients. For example, health care professionals who are more physically active are more likely to recommend physical activity to patients, and health care providers who smoke are less likely to encourage patients to stop smoking.

The authors note that the review is limited by the low quantity and quality of studies they found. Still, the findings are sufficient to recommend attention to health care providers’ personal drinking behaviors in efforts to intervene in their patients’ unhealthy alcohol use.

Is clinicians’ alcohol consumption associated with their preventive practices to reduce unhealthy alcohol use?: A systematic review of current evidence. E. Romero-Rodríguez, D. Fuster, L.A. Pérula de Torres, R. Saitz. (p. x-xx)

ACER-22-5274.R2