Research Emphasizes Importance of Screening for Unhealthy Consumption of Alcohol
New research has found that during primary care visits, screening for unhealthy consumption of alcohol by patients through the use of a validated questionnaire is rarely done. This is despite the current recommendations provided by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Figures show that between 2014 and 2016, screening was performed during only about 3% of office visits. Brittany Charrerton, a research fellow in the Department of Internal Medicine, stated that primary care physicians were usually overwhelmed with many patient health concerns and sometimes performing screening for alcohol consumption of patients was forgotten. Data from the National Institute on Alcohol…