title: Managing alcohol problems in general practice in Europe: results from the European ODHIN survey of general practitioners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document the attitudes of general practitioners (GPs) from eight European countries to alcohol and alcohol problems and how these attitudes are associated with self-reported activity in managing patients with alcohol and alcohol problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2345 GPs were surveyed. The questionnaire included questions on the GP's demographics, reported education and training on alcohol, attitudes towards managing alcohol problems and self-reported estimates of numbers of patients managed for alcohol and alcohol problems during the previous year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The estimated mean number of patients managed for alcohol and alcohol problems during the previous year ranged from 5 to 21 across the eight countries. GPs who reported higher levels of education for alcohol problems and GPs who felt more secure in managing patients with such problems reported managing a higher number of patients. GPs who reported that doctors tended to have a disease model of alcohol problems and those who felt that drinking was a personal rather than a medical responsibility reported managing a lower number of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The extent of alcohol education and GPs' attitudes towards alcohol were associated with the reported number of patients managed. Thus, it is worth exploring the extent to which improved education, using pharmacotherapy in primary health care and a shift to personalized health care in which individual patients are facilitated to undertake their own assessment and management (individual responsibility) might increase the number of heavy drinkers who receive feedback on their drinking and support to reduce their drinking.
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Newcastle, UK Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wojnar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland ajakubczyk@wum.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jakubczyk
authors.affiliation: Fundacio Privada Clinic per a la Recerca Biomèdica/Hospital Clinico i Provincial de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gual
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Generalitat De Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Segura
authors.affiliation: The National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sovinova
authors.affiliation: The National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ladislav
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Csemy
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Newcastle, UK.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaner
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Newcastle, UK.
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Newbury-Birch
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Statistiche, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fornasin
authors.affiliation: Centro Regional di Formazione per l'Area dlle Cure Primarie, Monfalcone, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Struzzo
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gaby
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ronda
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Steenkiste
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Myrna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keurhorst
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laurant
authors.affiliation: General-Diretorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: General-Diretorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Frederico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: do Rosário
authors.affiliation: General-Diretorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scafato
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gandin
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolsek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003625:Data Collection; D005060:Europe; D058006:General Practice; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report