Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Alcoholism.(SBIRT) (Research Paper Sample)

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Alcoholism
Robert Njeru
Multimedia University
Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a major problem globally making it to the top ten causes of preventable deaths around the world. Alcoholism over the years has had an increasing number of injuries, disease, and deaths. In the United States of America alone there are an estimated 79, 000 deaths annually due to excessive alcohol consumption, the third leading cause of preventable deaths after tobacco and diet complications. One-third of the deaths as a result of excessive alcohol consumption are due to suicide and the rest due to accidents, disease, drowning among other causes. Alcoholism does not only cost lives but large amounts of money; it is estimated that America loses between 40 to 80 billion dollars annually due to crime, vehicle accidents and the cost of treatment due to alcohol complications. Excessive consumption of alcohol and addiction is so widespread in the USA that 7% of all Americans above the age of 18 are reported to have a drinking problem. This accounts for about 13.8 million Americans (Peacock. Et al, 2018).