This study was one of the largest undertaken to investigate reasons for not seeking treatment on representative samples of primary care patients, with a good refusal rate of below 20 % on the individual level. We were able to investigate reasons for not seeking treatment on a sample that had not yet received treatment for AUDs and thereby varied with respect to AUDs severity and other patient characteristics that tend to be more homogenous among patients in specialized care [50]. Furthermore, this study combined information from open ended and closed questions thus including yet unknown or less investigated reasons. When we compared this study with the only study with a comparable sample size [3], the present study was able to also investigate 12 months answers which were found to be somehow different from lifetime answers and less prone to memory biases.
