average, or once a week on average if they also reported they had ever been in alcohol treatment or attended Alcoholics Anonymous [16]. This was used as a proxy screen for AUD for the CHOICE trial because, due to stigma [17], AUD are long known to be under-diagnosed clinically [18]. Patients were excluded if—based on either chart review or telephone screening—they had cognitive impairment, did not speak English, were acutely unstable medically or psychiatrically, had less than 1 year life expectancy, were a VA employee, were enrolled in another VA intervention study, had been in alcohol treatment in the previous 90 days (including medications for AUD, but not Alcoholics Anonymous or 12 step meetings), were planning on becoming pregnant or currently pregnant, had no contact with their primary care team in the last year, or were not planning to continue care at VA Puget Sound facilities in the next year. Eligible patients provided written informed consent at a baseline enrollment visit, followed by repeat assessment of eligibility and self- and interviewer-administered questionnaires.
