P2928 - The Impact of Alcohol Use Disorder Education Interventions on Gastroenterology Fellows

Balaji Jagdish, DO, Julie Murone, DO, Divya Venkat, MD
Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA

Introduction: Alcohol use disorder (AUD), as defined by the DSM-5 criteria, is a maladaptive pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. It is a disorder that is not only increasing in prevalence, but also having numerous detrimental health effects for those affected by the disease. It is for such reasons that we conducted a quality improvement project seeking to determine the understanding and comfortability of treating AUD amongst gastroenterology fellows in a tertiary care setting.

Methods: A before-after survey study was carried out. Subjects were gastroenterology fellows at an urban tertiary care facility, who completed a pre-questionnaire and then listened to a one-hour educational lecture on alcohol use disorder, alcohol related liver disease and treatment/resources available for patients. Immediately after the one-hour lecture, fellows were asked to complete a post-questionnaire and then a delayed questionnaire three months later. Pre and post answers were averaged out of a scale of 5 and analyzed using t-tests.

Results: Totally, eight fellows were included. Post intervention, thirteen percent of fellows felt more confident in having adequate training to provide alcohol use disorder counseling to their patients, twenty-five percent felt more confident in who they should refer their patients to for alcohol use disorder, and sixteen percent felt more comfortable in being able to speak with their patients regarding alcohol use disorder and help effectively reduce their patients’ consumption of alcohol (p-value < 0.05).

Discussion: While the prevalence of AUD is high nationally, there is only a small percentage of individuals yearly that receive therapeutic interventions. This discrepancy between the number of those affected with AUD and those that receive treatment although multifactorial, stem from stigma surrounding AUD, the lack of knowledge and comfortability of clinical providers in treating patients with AUD and the various social determinants of health that patients with AUD experience. A one-hour presentation discussing the complexities associated with diagnosing and treating alcohol use disorder, and the methods of helping destigmatize the disease in the medical community, can increase trainees’ confidence and knowledge base to help treat patients with alcohol use disorder in the clinic setting and reducing liver morbidity.


Disclosures:


Balaji Jagdish, DO, Julie Murone, DO, Divya Venkat, MD. P2928 - The Impact of Alcohol Use Disorder Education Interventions on Gastroenterology Fellows, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.