This UK study tested the idea that a multi-behaviour healthy living intervention would be more acceptable and more effective among problem drinking patients identified by a screening test than a specific alcohol intervention, but in both options found recruitment and retention challenging.

Key points from summary and commentary:
• A healthy living intervention was compared with an alcohol-specific intervention for problem drinkers identified while attending three UK hospitals with alcohol-related conditions.
• Six and 12 month later there were no significant differences in alcohol risk scores between patients randomly allocated to the two interventions.
• A key limitation was the unexpectedly low number of participants recruited and retained in the study, highlighting the challenges of engaging problem drinkers (who typically do not seek treatment) in research and interventions