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A recent study conducted by McMaster University revealed that screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for alcohol use disorder during hospitalization notably reduced 30- and 90-day readmissions for alcohol-related liver disease. However, despite the potential benefits, the application of SBIRT was observed to be underutilized among admitted patients.
The investigation, published in the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, examined data from patients admitted to Ontario’s Hamilton Health Sciences hospitals between 2017 and 2021. The primary focus was on active drinkers aged 18 and above admitted due to alcohol-associated hepatitis (AAH) or decompensated alcohol-related cirrhosis (DARLC).
Shockingly, only half of the patients with AAH and less than a quarter of those with DARLC received SBIRT during their hospitalization. “Conducting SBIRT with patients admitted for AAH notably reduced liver-related readmissions, sparking considerations of alcohol abstinence,” explained Dr. Dennis Wang, a senior researcher involved in the study.
However, this effect was not witnessed among DARLC patients, likely due to persistent liver scarring, which leads to further complications even after alcohol cessation.
Dr. Wang highlighted the challenge: “Sometimes, illness severity or resource constraints limit the delivery of high-quality SBIRT to all admitted patients.”
Dr. Wang emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among healthcare providers, including physicians, social workers, and addiction counselors, in implementing SBIRT effectively for these patients. “Every interaction with a patient is an opportunity to guide interested patients towards alcohol cessation,” he added.
However, the study faced limitations, including a single-center data collection that predominantly included male patients, impacting the generalizability of the findings.
Commenting on the study’s findings, Dr. Meena B. Bansal from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai expressed the need for increased education around alcohol use disorder therapies among practitioners to enhance comfort levels in prescribing pharmacotherapy.
The study was conducted without external funding and disclosed no relevant conflicts of interest among the researchers.
This research underscores the importance of implementing comprehensive interventions for actively drinking patients admitted for alcohol-related conditions to curb subsequent readmissions and improve long-term outcomes.
