The National Alcohol Screening Day 2001 (NASD 2001) follow up study seeks to demonstrate that screening for alcohol problems conducted through community health care facilities, colleges, primary care offices and hospital emergency departments as well as through an interactive secure Internet screening tool, is an effective method to identify individuals with symptoms of alcohol use disorders. The brief intervention that occurs through the screening process is designed to motivate those with diagnosable alcohol use disorders to seek treatment and/or reduce their alcohol consumption. In the late fall of 2000 and early winter of 2001, about 110,000 health care facilities, including primary care offices, hospital emergency departments and colleges, will be recruited on April 5, 2001, for participation in NASD 2001. Based on experience in 1999 and 2000 and with the aggressive expansion of the site recruitment campaign we expect at least 2,500 sites will register to participate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Attendees will be given a screening form to complete and return to screening event staff for scoring. The form includes the 10 question AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) in addition to several socio- demographic questions and a section for the clinician to indicate if a referral was made and the type of referral. In addition, a specific section will ask participants to consent to be contacted in 1 and/or 6 months by phone and/or E-mail to receive an explanation of the follow-up study and to be asked for their consent to participate in the follow-up study. At most screening sites, an educational presentation will be given by a health professional while screening forms are scored. The presentation explains the purpose of the program, the signs and symptoms of alcohol problems as well as outlining the range of effective treatments available. After the presentation, each participant will be given the opportunity to discuss the screening survey results with an on-site health professional and to receive referrals for further evaluation and treatment or intervention. The on-site health professional will have experience in diagnosing and treating alcohol problems. We will attempt to follow all those screened and in a 6-month interview to evaluate whether or not they sought additional counseling or reduced or quit drinking. We will also explore whether those who sought screening advice about others reported that those people about whom they were concerned reduced their drinking or sought counseling during the period since the screening.
| Wallenstein, Gene V; Pigeon, Sharon; Kopans, Barbara et al. (2007) Results of National Alcohol Screening Day: college demographics, clinical characteristics, and comparison with online screening. J Am Coll Health 55:341-50 |
