ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2019
Reduction in non-abstinent WHO drinking risk levels and depression/anxiety disorders: 3-year follow-up results in the US general population.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evidence based models of care for the treatment of alcohol use disorder in primary health care settings: a systematic review.BMC family practice · 2020Pooled it
- Intermittent theta burst to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex promoted decreased alcohol consumption and improved outcomes in those with alcohol use disorder: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- World Health Organization (WHO) risk level reductions in inpatients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid anxiety disorders.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2023Trial
- HealthCall: A randomized trial assessing a smartphone enhancement of brief interventions to reduce heavy drinking in HIV care.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Combined analysis of the moderating effect of a GRIK1 polymorphism on the effects of topiramate for treating alcohol use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- Stability of Drinking Reductions and Long-term Functioning Among Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Trial
- World Health Organization risk drinking level reductions are associated with improved functioning and are sustained among patients with mild, moderate and severe alcohol dependence in clinical trials in the United States and United Kingdom.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2020Trial
- Changes in DSM criteria following a culturally-adapted computerized CBT for Spanish-speaking individuals with substance use disorders.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2020Trial
- Maintenance of World Health Organization Risk Drinking Level Reductions and Posttreatment Functioning Following a Large Alcohol Use Disorder Clinical Trial.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Trial
- The Relationship Between Reductions in WHO Risk Drinking Levels During Treatment and Subsequent Healthcare Costs for the ACTIVE Workgroup.Journal of addiction medicineTrial
- Reductions in World Health Organization Risk Drinking Level Are Associated With Reductions in Alcohol Use Disorder Diagnosis and Criteria: Evidence From an Alcohol Pharmacotherapy Trial.Journal of addiction medicineTrial
- Capturing meaningful change: Initiation and maintenance of reductions in World Health Organization risk drinking levels among mandated college students.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026Article
- Reductions in World Health Organization Risk Drinking Levels as a Primary Efficacy End Point for Alcohol Clinical Trials: A Review.JAMA psychiatry · 2025Review
- World Health Organization risk drinking level reductions as treatment outcomes in PTSD and substance use disorder trials.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- The association between changes in AUDIT-C scores and acute mental healthcare utilization over the next year in a primary care population.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- Frontal Brain N-Acetylaspartate at Treatment Entry is Related to Future World Health Organization Risk Drinking Levels in Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2025Article
- Novel medications for problematic alcohol use.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Reduced drug use as an alternative valid outcome in individuals with stimulant use disorders: Findings from 13 multisite randomized clinical trials.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2024Article
- Regional cortical brain volumes at treatment entry relates to post treatment WHO risk drinking levels in those with alcohol use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Reductions in WHO risk drinking levels correlate with alcohol craving among individuals with alcohol use disorder.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNon-abstinent drinking reductions that predict improvement in how individuals feel or function, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking risk levels, may be useful outcomes in clinical trials for alcohol use disorders (AUD).
methodsCurrent drinkers in a U.S. national survey (n = 22,005) were interviewed in 2001-02 (Wave 1) and re-interviewed 3 years later (Wave 2). WHO drinking risk levels, a 4- level categorization system (very-high-risk, high-risk, moderate-risk, and low-risk drinkers) defined using estimated mean ethanol consumption (grams) per day in the prior 12 months, and DSM-IV depressive and anxiety disorders were assessed at both waves. Logistic regression was used to produce adjusted odds ratios (aOR) testing the associations of changes between Wave 1 and Wave 2 WHO risk levels to the presence or persistence of depression and/or anxiety disorder by each initial Wave 1 risk level.
resultsAmong Wave 1 very-high-risk drinkers, lower odds of depression and/or anxiety disorders at Wave 2 were predicted by reductions in WHO risk levels of one-, two- or three-levels (aOR = 0.42, 0.37, 0.67, p-values 0.04-<.0001), as was the persistence of depression and/or anxiety disorders among those with such disorders at Wave 1 (aOR = 0.37, 0.29, 0.51, p-values .03-<.0001). Results were less consistent for participants initially drinking at lower risk levels.
conclusionsAmong very-high-risk drinkers, reductions in the WHO drinking risk categories were associated with lower risk of depression and/or anxiety disorders. These results add to findings indicating reductions in WHO risk levels are a meaningful indicator of how individuals feel and function.
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