title: Efficacy of Brief Interventions in Reducing Hazardous or Harmful Alcohol Use in Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this paper is to systematically review the efficacy of alcohol brief intervention in middle-income countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of face-to-face brief motivational intervention aimed at reducing heavy alcohol use conducted in middle-income countries were identified through electronic databases: Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Library published up to and including 2015. Methodological quality assessment of the RCTs was made by using two validated tools.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine RCTs of alcohol brief intervention in middle-income countries met the review's inclusion criteria. The results of five trials suggest a benefit for brief intervention in reducing self-reported hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Methodological quality was found to be adequate using a standard tool, without any serious methodological issues or biases in more than half of the selected trials. The content of brief intervention was based on the principles of motivational interviewing and was delivered by trained nurses in almost all the trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This systematic review of RCTs on alcohol brief intervention conducted in middle-income countries suggests that brief intervention can help reduce self-reported hazardous or harmful alcohol use in primary-care population.
authors: College of Nursing, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak 124001, India jaisonjsph@yahoo.com.
authors: Jaison
authors: J
authors: Joseph
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Drug De-addiction & Treatment Centre, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.
authors: Debasish
authors: D
authors: Basu
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D062405:Motivational Interviewing / Q000379:methods*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D057566:Self Report