Trial reportAddiction (Abingdon, England)2020
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.
Trial report in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Wearable Intervention for Alcohol Use Risk and Sleep in Young Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- 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
- Examining cocaine use reductions and long-term outcomes in two clinical trials of continuing care for cocaine dependence.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Trial
- Esketamine combined with a mindfulness-based intervention for individuals with alcohol problems.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- 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
- Characterizing cannabis use reduction and change in functioning during treatment: Initial steps on the path to new clinical endpoints.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2022Trial
- HealthCall: A randomized trial assessing a smartphone enhancement of brief interventions to reduce heavy drinking in HIV care.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Computerized Relational Agent to Deliver Alcohol Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment in Primary Care: a Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Dose of psychotherapy and long-term recovery outcomes: An examination of attendance patterns in alcohol use disorder treatment.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2021Trial
- Decreased Alcohol Consumption in an Implementation Study of Computerized Brief Intervention among HIV Patients in Clinical Care.AIDS and behavior · 2021Trial
- Treating alcohol use disorders in primary care - a qualitative evaluation of a new innovation: the 15-method.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2021Trial
- 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
- Article
- Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines and its association with the risk of overweight and obesity in Chinese adolescents: 2007 to 2022.BMC public health · 2026Article
- 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
- Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia modified for adults with hazardous alcohol use: an open-label pilot study.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2026Article
- The patterns of relapse and abstinence: using machine learning to identify a multidimensional signature of long-term outcome after inpatient alcohol withdrawal treatment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Reductions in World Health Organization Risk Drinking Levels as a Primary Efficacy End Point for Alcohol Clinical Trials: A Review.JAMA psychiatry · 2025Review
- A Tragedy of Errors: The State of Psychedelic Research in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder.Brain sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo examine whether World Health Organization (WHO) risk-level reductions in drinking were achievable, associated with improved functioning and maintained over time among patients at varying initial alcohol dependence severity levels. Design and setting Secondary data analysis of multi-site randomized clinical trials: the US Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence (COMBINE) study and the UK Alcohol Treatment Trial (UKATT).
participantsIndividuals with alcohol dependence enrolled in COMBINE (n = 1383; 68.8% male) and seeking treatment for alcohol problems in UKATT (n = 742; 74.1% male). Interventions Naltrexone, acamprosate or placebo, and combined behavioral intervention or medication management in COMBINE. Social behavior network therapy or motivational enhancement therapy in UKATT. MEASUREMENTS: WHO risk-level reductions were assessed via the calendar method. Alcohol dependence was measured by the Alcohol Dependence Scale, the Leeds Dependence Questionnaire and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Measures of functioning included alcohol-related consequences (Drinker Inventory of Consequences and Alcohol Problems Questionnaire), mental health (Short Form Health Survey) and liver enzyme tests.
findingsOne- and two-level reductions in WHO risk levels in the last month of treatment were maintained at the 1-year follow-up [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI) = one-level reduction in COMBINE: 3.51 (2.73, 4.29) and UKATT: 2.65 (2.32, 2.98)] and associated with fewer alcohol-related consequences [e.g. B, 95% CI = one-level reduction COMBINE: -26.22 (-30.62, -21.82)], better mental health [e.g. B, 95% CI = one-level reduction UKATT: 9.53 (7.36, 11.73)] and improvements in γ-glutamyltransferase [e.g. B, 95% CI = one-level reduction UKATT: -89.77 (-122.50, -57.04)] at the end of treatment, even among patients with severe alcohol dependence. Results were similar when abstainers were excluded. Conclusions Reductions in World Health Organization risk levels for alcohol consumption appear to be achievable, associated with better functioning and maintained over time in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.