The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care clinicians screen all adults, including pregnant women, for unhealthy alcohol use.

Unhealthy alcohol use is increasing among adults. Unhealthy alcohol use is the third leading preventable cause of death in United States. About 88,000 people die each year from alcohol-related causes—deaths that could have been prevented.

Drinking and driving is always unsafe, but it is particularly dangerous among adolescents; one in five teen drivers involved in fatal car accidents had alcohol in their system.

“There isn’t enough evidence to know if screening and providing counseling to adolescents in primary care settings helps address alcohol use,” adds task force chair Sue Curry, Ph.D. “We continue to call for more research and encourage primary care clinicians to use their judgment when deciding whether to screen adolescents.”

This recommendation statement has been published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as well as on the Task Force web site.

Read the full press release from the USPSTF Bulletin (clicking this link will download a PDF to your computer)