title: Alcohol Electronic Screening and Brief Intervention: A Community Guide Systematic Review.
abstract: Excessive drinking is responsible for one in ten deaths among working-age adults in the U.S. annually. Alcohol screening and brief intervention is an effective but underutilized intervention for reducing excessive drinking among adults. Electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) uses electronic devices to deliver key elements of alcohol screening and brief intervention, with the potential to expand population reach.
  
  
  
  Using Community Guide methods, a systematic review of the scientific literature on the effectiveness of e-SBI for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms was conducted. The search covered studies published from 1967 to October 2011. A total of 31 studies with 36 study arms met quality criteria and were included in the review. Analyses were conducted in 2012.
  
  
  
  Twenty-four studies (28 study arms) provided results for excessive drinkers only and seven studies (eight study arms) reported results for all drinkers. Nearly all studies found that e-SBI reduced excessive alcohol consumption and related harms: nine study arms reported a median 23.9% reduction in binge-drinking intensity (maximum drinks/binge episode) and nine study arms reported a median 16.5% reduction in binge-drinking frequency. Reductions in drinking measures were sustained for up to 12 months.
  
  
  
  According to Community Guide rules of evidence, e-SBI is an effective method for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms among intervention participants. Implementation of e-SBI could complement population-level strategies previously recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force for reducing excessive drinking (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes and regulating alcohol outlet density).
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Kristin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Tansil
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Marissa B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Esser
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Paramjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sandhu
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia. Electronic address: rfe3@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Randy W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Elder
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Sajal K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chattopadhyay
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Michele K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Bohm
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Lela R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: McKnight-Eily
authors.affiliation: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hungerford
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Traci L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Toomey
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Ralph W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Hingson
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fielding
mesh_terms: D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D013685:Telecommunications