A multi-center study conducted by the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR) at Children's Hospital Boston finds that parents would be receptive to alcohol screenings during children's pediatric visits.

Nearly 90 percent of the 879 parents responding to an anonymous questionnaire said they would be open to being asked about their alcohol use during pediatric appointment; 75 percent of parents who screened positive for alcohol problems also indicated acceptance of screening.

Because pediatricians have a close relationship with children and their families, they "have a unique opportunity to screen parents for alcohol use and refer them for further assessment and treatment," said lead study author Celeste Wilson.

One out of every nine of the parent participants (11.5 percent) had a positive alcohol screen, a high number for a volunteer-only study. "It is possible that those parents who declined participation in the study were the ones with the most severe alcohol problems," Wilson said, adding that "if this is true, our results represent an underestimate of the actual problem."

The researchers suggested that implementation of pediatric screening for alcohol would involve a screening tool incorporated into a health survey that would be completed by the parent before their child's clinic appointment.

The study appeared in the November 2008 issue of the journal Pediatrics.