| Summary: | Excessive alcohol consumption is a major source of social, economic and health problems. Brief interventions (BI) are low in cost and have proven to be effective across the spectrum of alcohol problems (Babor and Higgins-Biddle, 2001). There have been numerous randomized clinical trials of brief interventions in a variety of health settings, finding that BI were often as effective as more extensive treatments (Bien et al., 1993; Kahan et al., 1995; Wilk et al. 1997). Brief interventions can help reduce the drinking levels of nondependent drinkers who drink more than the recommended limits. Adolescents and young people face a high risk of becoming heavy drinkers and experiencing negative consequences of alcohol use. Brief interventions, aimed at young people, are very important, namely because is the heaviest drinking period in life and young people do not see drinking as a problem. Despite the evidence for their usefulness, however, brief interventions for alcohol-related problems have not yet been widely implemented in Portugal primary care settings. Aim: evaluation of the effectiveness of Clinical Nurse Specialist screening and brief intervention in reducing excessive alcohol consumption among young people (students curso de formação profissional) Methods: Pre-experimental design, one-group pretest-posttest design. 39 students aged between 16-25 years, from both genders. Excessive consumption was identified opportunistically via the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). After baseline assessment, adolescents received either a 20 minutes brief intervention using the Alcohol Education protocol for low Risk Drinkers and Abstainers [AUDIT screening test/Zone I (0-7)]; Simple Advice protocol for Risk Drinkers [Zone II (8-15)]; and Simple Advice plus Brief Counseling protocol [Zone III (16-19)]; Referral to Specialist for Diagnostic Evaluation and Treatment [Zone III (20-40)]. Follow-up occurred at 6 months post intervention. Findings: Pretest Zone I - 74.4%; Zone II - 20.5%; Zone III- 5.1%. Majority of adolescents reduced their alcohol consumption between assessment and subsequent measurement (Zone I - 90%). Discussion: The brief intervention evaluated in this study had effect. A pre-experimental design has little control over environmental factors that could affect the outcome of a study. Another studies with experimental designs is required to evaluate the effectiveness of CNS screening and brief alcohol intervention in primary care.
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