Observational studyAddiction (Abingdon, England)2025
Identifying hazardous alcohol use in primary care using phosphatidylethanol: Timing of screening matters.
Observational study in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Adjusting the 15-method to Danish general practice: a participatory design approach.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Identifying Hazardous Alcohol Use in Primary Care: Concordance Between Phosphatidylethanol and Self-Reports.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Identifying hazardous alcohol use in primary care using phosphatidylethanol: Timing of screening matters.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Observational
- Comparing the Documentation of Phosphatidylethanol and Alcohol History in Hypertension Management in Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsAlcohol is a well-established risk factor for numerous health conditions, making screening for hazardous alcohol use in healthcare a critical task. While self-reported data suggest that alcohol consumption varies across seasons, this seasonal fluctuation has not yet been confirmed using objective biological markers. This study aimed to measure whether phosphatidylethanol (PEth) captures variations in hazardous alcohol use across two temporal resolutions: month of the year and day of the week.
designObservational cross-sectional study based on data from medical records.
settingHealthcare services, Region Dalarna, Sweden, between 2017 and 2023. PARTICIPANTS/CASES: Adult patients (n = 62 431, 50% females) screened for hazardous alcohol use with PEth within primary care. MEASUREMENTS: This study utilizes test results from PEth, with results >0.30 μmol/l defined as hazardous alcohol use. We compared the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use across months and weekdays using logistic regression while adjusting for sex, age, smoking status, the Charlson Comorbidity Index and psychiatric diagnoses.
findingsThe prevalence of hazardous alcohol use increased between May and August, ranging from 13.2% to 15.9%, compared with 10.7% in November. This corresponds to a 48% relative increase in the peak month of July [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.33-1.64]. Hazardous alcohol use was also more prevalent among patients tested on Mondays (13.0%) compared with Thursdays, with the lowest prevalence (12.0%). The difference was particularly pronounced among female patients, with a 14.0% higher relative prevalence on Mondays (PR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.02-1.27).
conclusionsIn Sweden, the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use appears to fluctuate seasonally and, to a lesser extent, across weekdays, as measured by blood tests for phosphatidylethanol, a biomarker for hazardous alcohol use. November showed the lowest prevalence and July the highest, consistent across age, sex and the year of the observational period. Hazardous alcohol use showed a slight elevation of prevalence during Mondays compared with Tuesday to Friday.
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