Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Overview banner

What Is ASBI?

Alcohol screening and brief intervention is a structured set of questions and a brief follow-up discussion between a patient and a health care provider designed to address alcohol use problems. Several widely used sets of questions (screening instruments) are available to ask patients (after they agree to be questioned) how much and how often they drink. Health providers (and others trained in ASBI techniques) evaluate answers to see if they indicate an alcohol misuse or abuse problem.  If the patient screens positively, the health professional can share the screening results and their significance with the patient. Brief interventions are short, 10-to-15-minute motivational interviews that encourage patients to create a plan of action – from reducing their drinking to seeking substance abuse treatment –based on their willingness to change their drinking behavior. 

Some considerations regarding alcohol screening and brief intervention:

  • It is designed for use by health care professionals who do not specialize in addiction treatment.

  • Interventions use motivational techniques and are based on the patient’s readiness to change; it is a patient-centered methodology.

  • Feedback and recommendations are given respectfully in the form of useful information.


Supporting Research

Two examples of the many medical journal articles supporting the use of alcohol screening and brief intervention are “Preventive Care in the Emergency Department: Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review” by Gail D’Onofrio and Linda C. Degutis (Academic Emergency Medicine, 2002; Volume 9: pp. 627-638) and “Meta-Analysis of Randomized Control Trials Addressing Brief Intervention in Heavy Alcohol Drinkers” by Alev I. Wilk, Norman M. Jensen, and Thomas C. Havighurst (Journal of Internal Medicine, 1997; Volume 12 (5) pp. 274). As this has shown ASBI’s effectiveness in the medical setting, other settings such as schools and the workplace are being explored. Variables involved in each new application of ASBI need to be carefully considered and evaluated to maintain the approach’s scientific integrity. NHTSA adds to the body of knowledge on this matter this through demonstration projects and research efforts. To achieve the ultimate goal of making ASBI part of standard medical practice, local initiatives and programs will be fundamental components. 


Why Promote ASBI?

Impaired driving can be a symptom of a larger problem: alcohol misuse. Those who drink and drive pose not only a social problem, but may have a medical problem. In order to reduce impaired driving, both problems need to be addressed. There is compelling evidence in scientific and medical literature that ASBI is effective in reducing drinking among problem drinkers and in motivating dependent drinkers to seek treatment.2


Where Should We Promote ASBI?

More than 107 million people seek care in emergency departments every year and substantial numbers of these patients have alcohol use problems. For this reason, trauma centers and emergency department are NHTSA’s primary objectives for promoting ASBI.  Studies involving large numbers of patients indicate that 15-25 percent of injured patients treated in emergency departments and 25 percent to over 50 percent of patients admitted to trauma centers test positive for alcohol.3  Moreover, 30 percent of hospitalized crash victims, and 15 percent of those treated and released for crash injuries, had a current alcohol abuse or dependence diagnosis.4  Widespread use of ASBI in the emergency medical setting is a good way to ensure the practice reaches a large number of people with alcohol use problems, including impaired drivers.


2See paragraph “Supporting Research”

3Dill, Wells-Parker, and Soderstrom, (2004, Traffic Injury Prevention 5:278-291)

4Maio and colleagues (1997, Acad. Emerg. Med 4:256-262)

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