Hazardous alcohol use in hypertensive patients in routine primary care - prevalence and methods for detection.

Hazardous alcohol use is a harmful lifestyle factor in 10-30 % in the Swedish population.

Patients with elevated blood pressure use more alcohol than the general population but formal epidemiological studies in this group with increased cardiovascular risk is scarce or missing. Most guidelines in hypertension stresses the importance of addressing alcohol use in routine care.

In patients with uncontrolled or even treatment resistant hypertension special attention to hazardous alcohol use should be included in the analysis of possible explanations as alcohol both increases blood pressure and the risk for non-adherence of effective treatment.

Little scientific attention has been paid to guide the choice of method for alcohol detection in primary care where the majority of patients with hypertension receives their care.

Two methods for the detection of hazardous alcohol use have been advocated; the AUDIT questionnaire and the laboratory test PEth.

They have different pros and cons and scientific evaluations of which method works best in a routine situation has not been done.

As only a third of General Practionners (GP) report to have addressed the issue of alcohol use in their consultations there seems to be a need for scientific guidance of easy routinized methods to aid the important dialogue on alcohol use with patients.In a series of studies we aim to explore barriers and facilitators experienced by GPs and patients in relation to two recommended methods.

In addition, we also will describe how common hazardous alcohol use is in a primary care population in different groups with hypertension.

The project also seeks to create conclusive evidence on the issue whether the PEth method for alcohol detection is superior to the AUDIT questionnaire in a primary care setting.

The effects of the COVID-19-pandemic and its restrictions related to alcohol induced problems and the treatment of blood pressure patients in primary care will also be explored.