At 12 months, more people in the 12-step programme had stayed off alcohol.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The review combined 27 studies of 10,565 adults with alcohol problems who had not been forced into treatment. The average age in each study was about 34 to 51.

2. 02

   What they did

   People got counselling based on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It urges people to attend AA meetings. The other groups got talking therapies, such as therapy that challenges unhelpful thoughts. Sessions ranged from one short session to several hour-long sessions over several months.

3. 03

   What happened

   Compared with other talking therapies, more people in the 12-step group had stayed off alcohol at 12 months. Alcohol-free days were higher at 24 and 36 months, but drinks and drinking problems did not clearly differ at 12 months. The paper's abstract and results give slightly different numbers for one result, so we can't give its size.

What the review found

1. HelpedGoals

   Across 2 studies, the 12-step programme helped more people stay off alcohol at 12 months.

   • Action: Open up to your peerstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Pooled analysis of 2 studies with 1,936 people · vs other talking therapies · they rated themselves · the authors rated their certainty high · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. No differenceGoals

   Across 4 studies, the 12-step programme did not change how many days people went without alcohol at 12 months.

   • Action: Open up to your peerstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Pooled analysis of 4 studies with 1,999 people · vs other talking therapies · they rated themselves · the authors rated their certainty very low · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. No differenceGoals

   In one study, the 12-step programme did not change how many drinks people had on drinking days at 12 months.

   • Action: Open up to your peerstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Pooled analysis of 1 study with 1,516 people · vs other talking therapies · they rated themselves · the authors rated their certainty moderate · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

4. No differenceOther outcomes

   At 12 months, drinking problems were about the same in the 12-step programme as with other talking therapies.

   • Action: Open up to your peerstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Pooled analysis of 3 studies with 1,762 people · vs other talking therapies · they rated themselves · the authors rated their certainty moderate · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source