Emergency Physician Attitudes Concerning Intervention for Alcohol Abuse/Dependence Delivered in the Emergency Department

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Abstract
Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians frequently see patients with alcohol abuse or dependence (AA/AD). Brief interventions delivered in the Emergency Department (ED) have been advocated for these patients, however, little is known regarding EM physician willingness to support such interventions. We conducted a study to determine EM physicians' attitudes toward the use of interventions for AA/AD in the ED. All members of the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians (n = 569) were mailed a survey to assess their attitudes toward the use of intervention for AA/AD in the ED. Of the 257 respondents (45.9%), a total of 76% agreed that AA/AD is a treatable illness and only 15% would not agree to support of ED interventions. Both supporters and non-supporters thought that the lack of sufficient time was an impediment to treating AA/AD in the ED. Our study suggests that the majority of ED physicians would support the implementation of brief intervention for AA/AD in the ED.