Effects of Group Education by Primary Care Physicians on the Readiness to Change in Heavy Drinkers.

Lee, Sun Hee; Kim, Jong Sung; Kim, Sung Soo; Jung, Jin Gyu; Lim, Chul Young; Lee, Jeong Gil; Bae, Nam Kyou

doi:2009.30.1.55

Korean J Fam Med > Volume 30(1); 2009 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Family Medicine 2009;30(1):55-61.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.2009.30.1.55 Published online January 10, 2009.

Effects of Group Education by Primary Care Physicians on the Readiness to Change in Heavy Drinkers.

Sun Hee Lee, Jong Sung Kim, Sung Soo Kim, Jin Gyu Jung, Chul Young Lim, Jeong Gil Lee, Nam Kyou Bae

¹Department of Family Medicine, Research Institute for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea. jskim@cnuh.co.kr
²National Health Insurance Corporation, Seoul, Korea.

과음자들에서 그룹교육을 통한 변화준비단계의 개선

이선희, 김종성, 김성수, 정진규, 임철영, 이정길, 배남규

^¹
^²

Abstract

Background
Patient education can play an important role in motivating patients to change their problematic behavior. This study purposed to evaluate the effects of the brief group education, which was performed by primary care physicians, on the improvement of the readiness to change in problem drinkers after a year from the education. Methods: 34 male were followed up as the subjects who had been problem drinkers and at the stage of precontemplation or contemplation before group education. The readiness to change of the subjects was re-evaluated again 12 weeks and a year after the brief group education. Results: Before the education, 11 patients among the subjects were at the stage of precontemplation and 23 at the contemplation. The distribution was significantly changed into 2 at the stage of precontemplation, 14 at the contemplation and 18 at the action 12 weeks after the group education (P<0.001), and into 2 at the precontemplation, 16 at the contemplation, and 16 at the action a year after the group education (P<0.001). The most influential factor associated with the improvement of the status of readiness to change was family function score (after 12 weeks odds ratio 1.99, 95% CI 1.10-3.62; after a year odds ratio 2.31, 95% CI 1.10-4.85). Conclusions: Problem drinkers who had participated in brief group education by primary care physicians showed continuous improvement in the readiness to change even after a year from the education.

Key Words: Problem drinking, Group education, Readiness to change, Family function