Effect of a Motivational Interviewing-Based Brief Intervention on Alcohol Use Behavior in Korean Internal Medicine Settings

A motivational interviewing (MI)-based brief intervention was performed with high-risk drinking outpatients screened at internal medicine settings in Korea after the doctor advised them to reduce alcohol consumption. Participants were assigned to a MI group or a control group where they received a brochure with information on the harm of high-risk drinking and tips on managing drinking habits. Four-week follow-up results showed that Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise (AUDIT-C) scores decreased in the MI group and the control group compared to baseline scores. The difference between groups was not significant; however, group by time interaction was significant between the two groups: the slope of decreasing AUDIT-C scores over time was greater in the intervention group than in the control group (P = 0.042). The findings suggest that short comments received from doctors might be a key component in performing brief interventions for high-risk drinking management in Korean clinical settings.