TY - JOUR T1 - If pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorders are effective, why are they underutilised? JF - Evidence Based Medicine JO - Evid Based Med SP - 230 LP - 231 DO - 10.1136/ebmed-2014-110050 VL - 19 IS - 6 AU - Elizabeth M Oliva AU - Alex H S Harris Y1 - 2014/12/01 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/19/6/230.abstract N2 - Commentary on: Jonas DE, Amick HR, Feltner C, et al. Pharmacotherapy for adults with alcohol use disorders in outpatient settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2014;311:1889–900.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science Although alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are highly prevalent and often disabling, effective pharmacological treatments are underutilised, due partly to clinicians’ lack of knowledge and misperceptions about effectiveness.1 ,2 This systematic review and meta-analysis examined research literature on the efficacy of pharmacotherapies for AUDs in outpatient settings, providing an updated synthesis of effect sizes for a variety of outcomes. The study reviewed pharmacotherapy studies for AUDs from January 1970 through March 2014, including randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of at least 12 weeks duration in an outpatient setting with alcohol outcomes (eg, return to any drinking, return to heavy drinking), and head-to-head prospective cohort studies with health or adverse effect outcomes. Studies using FDA-approved medications (ie, naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram) … ER -