The Efficacy of Brief Intervention Plus Telephone Booster for Alcohol with Depression Out-Patients

Objective: Alcohol and comorbid depression commonly occur in patients with alcohol hazardous use. Psychological therapies are required in the treatment and prevention of alcohol abuse. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Brief intervention plus telephone booster (BI-B) in reducing alcohol consumption and improve outcomes in alcohol with depression. Method: Participants were recruited using level of alcohol problem and depressive screening test. Alcohol with depression out-patients (N=80) were randomly assigned to Treatment as usual (TAU) plus BI-B and only TAU. Data were collected at baseline and 3 months for a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi square and t-test with statistical significant level at .05. Results: The results showed that both groups were significant variable between baseline and 3 months follow-up in percentage of heavy drinking days, depressive scores, and level of Gamma-GlutamylTransferase (GGT). In addition, TAU plus BI-B give the better results than only TAU in percentage of heavy drinking days, percentage of abstinence days, depressive scores, and GGT (p< .05) at 3 months. Conclusions: BI-B could be used in the implementation of an optional treatment for patients who need close follow-up.