Motivação para a mudança do comportamento de beber: diferenças entre pacientes usuários de álcool do ambulatório de gastroenterologia e do serviço especializado no tratamento do alcoolismo

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: For some patients who have developed significant alcohol-related physical disease, total abstinence from alcohol may offer the best chance of survival. The aim of this study was to investigate motivation for treatment in two groups of alcohol users: outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic and outpatients from the specialist alcohol treatment service. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study, at a federally funded public teaching hospital. METHODS: The sample studied was 151 outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic and 175 from the specialist alcohol treatment service. The interview was conducted in the outpatient clinics at the first appointment, and consisted of demographic questions and scales for measuring quality of life, alcohol dependence, pattern of alcohol, motivation for treatment and consequences of alcohol consumption. RESULTS: The results suggested that outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic were less dependent on alcohol, had suffered fewer consequences from alcohol and had fewer emotional and mental health problems than did the outpatients from the alcohol treatment service. In relation to their stages of change, the gastroenterology outpatients presented high precontemplation scores at the beginning of treatment while outpatients of alcohol treatment service showed higher scores in contemplation, action and maintenance. CONCLUSION: The medical treatment may be a reason for the temporary alcohol abstinence behavior among the gastroenterology outpatients.CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO: Para alguns pacientes que desenvolveram doenças físicas relacionadas ao consumo de álcool, a abstinência pode oferecer a melhor chance de sobrevivência. O objetivo deste estudo foi de investigar a motivação para tratamento em dois grupos de consumidores de álcool: pacientes do ambulatório de gastroenterologia e do ambulatório especializado no tratamento para alcoolismo. TIPO DO ESTUDO E LOCAL: Corte transversal, no hospital-escola do serviço público federal. MÉTODOS: A amostragem estudada foi de 151 pacientes do ambulatório de gastroenterologia e 175 do ambulatório especializado. A entrevista foi conduzida nos ambulatórios na primeira consulta ao serviço e consistiu em uma seção com dados demográficos e escalas que avaliaram qualidade de vida, dependência de álcool, padrão de consumo alcoólico, motivação para tratamento e conseqüências decorrentes do beber. RESULTADOS: Os resultados sugeriram que os pacientes do ambulatório de gastroenterologia eram menos dependentes do álcool, sofriam menos as conseqüências relacionadas ao consumo de bebidas alcoólicas e possuíam menos problemas mentais e emocionais quando comprados com os pacientes do ambulatório para tratamento do alcoolismo. Em relação aos estágios de mudança, os pacientes da gastroenterologia apresentaram maiores escores na precontemplação no início do tratamento e os pacientes do ambulatório especializado apresentaram escores maiores em contemplação, ação e manutenção. CONCLUSÃO: O tratamento médico pode ser uma razão para a abstinência temporária de álcool para os pacientes do ambulatório de gastroenterologia.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de MedicinaUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Motivation to change drinking behavior: the differences between alcohol users from an outpatient gastroenterology clinic and a specialist alcohol treatment service

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: For some patients who have developed significant alcohol-related physical disease, total abstinence from alcohol may offer the best chance of survival. The aim of this study was to investigate motivation for treatment in two groups of alcohol users: outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic and outpatients from the specialist alcohol treatment service. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study, at a federally funded public teaching hospital. METHODS: The sample studied was 151 outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic and 175 from the specialist alcohol treatment service. The interview was conducted in the outpatient clinics at the first appointment, and consisted of demographic questions and scales for measuring quality of life, alcohol dependence, pattern of alcohol, motivation for treatment and consequences of alcohol consumption. RESULTS: The results suggested that outpatients from the gastroenterology clinic were less dependent on alcohol, had suffered fewer consequences from alcohol and had fewer emotional and mental health problems than did the outpatients from the alcohol treatment service. In relation to their stages of change, the gastroenterology outpatients presented high precontemplation scores at the beginning of treatment while outpatients of alcohol treatment service showed higher scores in contemplation, action and maintenance. CONCLUSION: The medical treatment may be a reason for the temporary alcohol abstinence behavior among the gastroenterology outpatients