USPSTF: Screen All Adults for Unhealthy Alcohol Use

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated its 2013 draft recommendation statement for screening and behavioral counseling interventions in the primary care setting for adults with unhealthy alcohol use.

“This recommendation replaces the 2013 USPSTF recommendation statement on screening and behavioral counseling interventions for alcohol misuse,” the USPSTF wrote. “The term ‘alcohol misuse,’ used in the 2013 recommendation, has been replaced by the term ‘unhealthy alcohol use.’”

In the updated draft statement, the USPSTF recommends:

• In the primary care setting, adults aged 18 years or older, including pregnant women, should be screened for unhealthy alcohol use.
  • Individuals with risky or hazardous drinking should be provided with brief behavioral counseling interventions for reducing unhealthy alcohol use.
• Currently, there is not enough evidence to weigh the benefits and harms of screening and behavioral counseling interventions for alcohol use in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

However, the USPSTF writes: “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that clinicians screen all adolescent patients for alcohol use with a formal, validated screening tool (such as CRAFFT) at every health supervision visit and appropriate acute care visits, and respond to screening results with the appropriate brief intervention and referral if indicated.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Draft recommendation statement: unhealthy alcohol use in adolescents and adults: screening and behavioral counseling interventions. US Preventive Services Task Force. June 2018. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/draft-recommendation-statement/unhealthy-alcohol-use-in-adolescents-and-adults-screening-and-behavioral-counseling-interventions / Accessed on June 6, 2018.