Brief Intervention and Fibroscan for Harmful Drinkers Presenting to the Emergency Department

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) poses a significant burden to individuals, the population and the health and social care system in the United Kingdom (UK). Chronic liver disease is now the third most common cause of death and costs the National Health Service (NHS) an estimated £3.5 billion per year. This equates to 3.6% of the total NHS budget. The only effective way to reduce the risk of liver damage for people at high risk is to abstain from drinking alcohol. Alcohol services can successfully help people reduce their risk of liver damage by helping them reduce or stop drinking. Many people with AUD use emergency departments and it is NHS policy for them to be screened for harmful drinking and referred for treatment if indicated.

There is currently very little evidence that existing methods to screen for alcohol use disorders and encourage high risk patients to refer themselves to ATS from ED, are effective. Fibroscan is a safe and effective test to look for early signs of liver disease even before a patient shows symptoms. Research into the use of Fibroscan as part of a brief advice intervention for AUDs in ED has not been undertaken before. If effective in increasing treatment uptake the reduction in liver disease from treating more ED attenders could be substantial.

All patients attending the Emergency Department are already asked a single alcohol screening question as part of their normal assessment: "Have you drunk more than 6 units of alcohol on one occasion in the previous month?". Those answering yes are briefly counselled about their alcohol use ( standard brief intervention) and advised to self-refer for community treatment services. During the study these patients will be offered participation in the trial. If they consent the research team will assess their eligibility by using the AUDIT-C questionnaire a widely used set of 6 questions taking approximately 5 minutes to complete. Patients scoring 10 or less will receive a brief intervention and advice on self-referral as usual. Patients scoring 11 or 12 will be eligible to be randomised to a Fibroscan (intervention arm) in addition to brief advice and information (control arm).

All patients will receive the same verbal and printed information about community alcohol treatment services and how to self-refer. Patients will be followed up at 1, 3 and 6 months post randomisation by telephone. A research nurse blinded to the allocation will collect data on their drinking behaviour in the previous week and ask whether they have sought help from alcohol services their General Practitioner (GP) or from other NHS services. In addition the primary outcome measure, engagement in alcohol treatment services at 6 months, will be confirmed by collecting data from the services themselves under a research information sharing agreement. This activity is explained clearly in the information and consent processes for patients given the sensitivity of the information. Study data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations. This will provide the detailed information necessary to assess the success of the feasibility trial and to inform a power calculation for a full-scale randomised trial of the effect of the Fibroscan intervention in ED.