2018 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 15-22
There are various lifestyle-related diseases including gout and hyperuricemia that can be improved by reducing alcohol intake. Many treatment guidelines set appropriate volumes of alcohol intake, however, specific educational methods are not mentioned. The WHO devised The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) that consists of 10 questions to identify drinking-related problems. They proposed an educational method that aims to improve recognition of the necessity of reducing alcohol intake by utilizing AUDIT and repeated support as brief intervention to achieve this goal. In Japan, laws to control alcohol consumption were established in 2013 and basic plans have been formulated and implemented for administration. In this study, 6 patients with gout and diabetes mellitus at our facility attended a 60-minute group session utilizing AUDIT. Each patient calculated the amount of absolute alcohol they consumed based on their actual alcohol intake, and we helped them recognize the difference between their intake and appropriate alcohol (20 g). Then, they set individual goals to reduce alcohol consumption. One month later, interviews were conducted with 3 patients, revealing that all of them had achieved their goals and showed decreases in the γ GTP value. The subject group of this study was very small and support for reducing alcohol intake was limited. Daily educational methods to tackle drinking problems will be revised based on the results.
