Trial reportJournal of general internal medicine2021
Stability of Drinking Reductions and Long-term Functioning Among Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder.
Trial report in Journal of general internal medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining the Impact of Trial Length on Detecting Medication Effects for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Meta-Regression Study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of screening and ultra-brief intervention for hazardous drinking in primary care: pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Trial
- Relief craving severity moderates nonpharmacological treatment outcomes in treatment-seeking older adults with alcohol use disorder.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 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
- 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
- Investigating Secondary Alcohol Outcomes in a Contingency Management Intervention among American Indian and Alaska Native Adults.Journal of addiction medicineTrial
- Zero tolerance for 0%? How should clinicians and other practitioners respond to the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products in higher risk groups.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Review
- More Than a Symptom Count: Measuring Functioning in Alcohol Use Disorder With the Life Stress Interview.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- Health-related quality of life in patients with alcohol use disorder: comparing instruments and mapping from clinical measures to preference-based measures.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Quality of life measures in treatment for active substance misuse: a scoping review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Reductions in World Health Organization Risk Drinking Levels as a Primary Efficacy End Point for Alcohol Clinical Trials: A Review.JAMA psychiatry · 2025Review
- Successful Integration of Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment into a Primary Care Clinic at a Safety-Net Hospital.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Empirical Derivation and Prediction of Treatment Trajectories in Harmonized AUD Clinical Trial Datasets.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Combination of Drugs in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Study.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for AUD: Bayesian analysis of WHO drinking risk level and exploratory analysis of drinking behavior and psychosocial functioning at 3 months follow-up.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2025Article
- Exploring heterogeneity in recovery from substance use disorder following mindfulness-based relapse prevention: A latent profile analysis.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Endpoints for Pharmacotherapy Trials for Alcohol Use Disorder.Pharmaceutical medicine · 2024Review
- Novel medications for problematic alcohol use.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Review
- Problematic alcohol use and its impact on liver disease quality of life in a multicenter study of patients with cirrhosis.Hepatology communications · 2024Article
- Initial Psychometric Testing of the Harm Reduction Self-Efficacy Scale (HRSES).Addiction research & theory · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes alcohol consumption according to grams consumed into low-, medium-, high-, and very-high-risk drinking levels (RDLs). Although abstinence has been considered the ideal outcome of alcohol treatment, reductions in WHO RDLs have been proposed as primary outcomes for alcohol use disorder (AUD) trials.
objectiveThe current study examines the stability of WHO RDL reductions and the association between RDL reductions and long-term functioning for up to 3 years following treatment. DESIGN AND
participantsSecondary data analysis of patients with AUD enrolled in the COMBINE Study and Project MATCH, two multi-site, randomized AUD clinical trials, who were followed for up to 3 years post-treatment (COMBINE: n = 694; MATCH: n = 806). MEASURES: Alcohol use was measured via calendar-based methods. We estimated all models in the total sample and among participants who did not achieve abstinence during treatment. KEY
resultsOne-level RDL reductions were achieved by 84% of patients at the end of treatment, with 84.9% of those individuals maintaining that reduction at a 3-year follow-up. Two-level RDL reductions were achieved by 68% of patients at the end of treatment, with 77.7% of those individuals maintaining that reduction at a 3-year follow-up. One- and two-level RDL reductions at the end of treatment were associated with significantly better mental health, quality of life (including physical quality of life), and fewer drinking consequences 3 years after treatment (p < 0.05), as compared to no change or increased drinking.
conclusionAUD patients can maintain WHO RDL reductions for up to 3 years after treatment. Patients who had WHO RDL reductions functioned significantly better than those who did not reduce their drinking. These findings are consistent with prior reports suggesting that drinking reductions, short of abstinence, yield meaningful improvements in patient health, well-being, and functioning.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.