Literature Collection

BACKGROUND: In Belgium, 82% of the population consumes alcohol occasionally while 10% consume in a way that can be seen as problematic. On a European level, only 8% of the people who can be characterized as having Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) would have consulted professional assistance in the past year. In this context, the KCE (Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre) has addressed multiple recommendations to health professionals to reduce the "treatment gap" concerning the patients' care: (1) encourage screening and preventative interventions, (2) promote the acquirement of communicational and relational competences (3) develop collaborations between professionals. The objective of this article is to better understand their functioning. METHOD: We format a non-systematic literature review concerning these recommendations. RESULTS: The implementation of these Brief Interventions programs in primary care is relevant due to the moderately positive impact on the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption but both the quality of the therapeutic relationship and collaboration with the care network would optimize Brief Interventions. The quality of the therapeutic relationship alone appears to have an impact on therapeutic outcome. CONCLUSION: Training concerning patient-professional relationship is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of BIs.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardiovascular (CVD) and mental health comorbidities (MHD) among individuals with diabetes is increasing. Pathological differences in these comorbidities may lead to differential healthcare utilization. This study’s objectives were to estimate the prevalence of CVD and MHD among older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to assess all-cause healthcare utilization among these individuals. METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis among Medicare-insured older individuals with T2DM was conducted. Four study cohorts were defined based on the presence of CVD and MHD. Healthcare utilization was measured as the number of visits. In addition to descriptive statistics, adjusted generalized linear models were fit and recycled predictions were employed to estimate the incremental utilization among study cohorts. RESULTS: Of 225,165 beneficiaries with T2DM, 53.30% (n=120,003) had neither CVD nor MHD, 23.98% (n=53,992) had CVD but no MHD, 12.05% (n=27,130) had MHD but no CVD, and 10.68% (n=24,040) had both CVD and MHD. Relative to beneficiaries with neither CVD nor MHD, those with CVD but no MHD had 0.11 higher mean inpatient, 2.29 higher mean outpatient, and 0.18 higher mean emergency department (ED) visits annually; those with MHD but no CVD had 0.22 higher mean inpatient, 8.78 higher mean outpatient, and 0.43 higher mean ED visits annually; those with both CVD and MHD had 0.31 higher mean inpatient, 7.53 higher mean outpatient, and 0.59 higher mean ED visits annually. Additionally, when compared to beneficiaries with CVD but no MHD, those with MHD but no CVD had 0.11 higher mean inpatient, 6.49 higher mean outpatient, and 0.25 higher mean ED visits annually. CONCLUSION: Older adults with T2DM and comorbidities use more healthcare services, especially those with MHD. The development and implementation of integrated care systems for management of chronic diseases and associated comorbidities will help in optimizing the use of healthcare resources. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-026-06988-9.