US doctors told to screen ALL adults for alcohol abuse

US doctors have been told to screen every adult for ‘unhealthy’ alcohol use whether they seem to have a problem or not.

It’s a subtle but important (according to health officials) change to the long-standing advice that doctors should be on the look out for alcoholism.

Every American adult is used to the standard questions about alcohol use at their annual check-up – primarily: how many units do you drink a week?

But researchers say many doctors fail to do so, and very few offer advice or counseling to patients who throw up some red flags.

As such, the United States Preventive Services Task Force has updated its 2013 advisory, urging doctors to be prepared to counsel any patient, and to be more rigorous in their screening.

At least 88,000 deaths a year were attributed to alcohol in the US between 2006 and 2010. 

Alcohol use during pregnancy is also one of the primary drivers of births defects. 

Experts say doctors could be doing more to step in.  

‘In the United States, 1 in 6 patients reports having discussed alcohol with their physician; rates in Europe are similarly low,’ Angela Bazzi and Dr Richard Saitz, of Boston University School of Public Health, wrote in an editorial for JAMA which accompanied the new guidelines.

They add that there is scores of evidence showing a conversation with a doctor can have a significant impact on a person’s habits. 

In terms of how to intervene, the task force recommended scheduling a few counseling sessions, amounting to a total of less than two hours. They said the counseling could be done in person, or even online. 

‘The societal context must change,’ Bazzi and Staitz wrote.

The panel fell short of offering advice for teens, though the American Academy of Pediatrics has long supported screening kids for alcohol.