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Christina M. Delos Reyes, MD
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio

JAMA. 2002;287:1857.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Although 13 million to 16 million people in the United States each year could benefit from treatment for addiction disorders, less than 25% of them receive it.¹ Negative attitudes of physicians toward diagnosis and treatment of addiction create barriers to their early identification and treatment. In one survey of general practice physicians and nurses, a majority believed that no available medical or health care interventions are effective in treating addiction.² Similarly, most physicians do not screen for alcohol or other drug dependence during routine health examinations.³ This can result in a delay of diagnosis until the addiction has reached an advanced stage and late-stage pathology is evident.⁴ Poor outcomes resulting from delayed diagnosis reinforce physician and patient pessimism about the prospects of recovery.⁴

Such pessimism about therapy is unwarranted. Even brief interventions are effective in decreasing alcohol intake among problem drinkers.⁵ A recent study found . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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