Published Paper Details:

Alcohol dependence is a major public health problem that adversely affects physical, psychological, social, and environmental well-being and significantly reduces quality of life (QoL). Therefore, the present study was conducted with the problem statement, "A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Community-based Nursing Intervention Regarding Alcohol Dependence and Quality of Life among Alcohol-dependent Individuals in Selected Rural Area at Udaipur." The objectives were to screen and identify alcohol-dependent individuals, assess their level of alcohol dependence and quality of life, evaluate the effectiveness of the community-based nursing intervention, determine the correlation between alcohol dependence and quality of life, and assess the association of alcohol dependence and quality of life with selected demographic variables. The hypotheses stated that there would be a significant difference in alcohol dependence and quality-of-life scores before and after the intervention, a significant correlation between alcohol dependence and quality of life, and a significant association between these variables and selected demographic characteristics. A pre-experimental, one-group pre-test post-test research design was adopted among 150 alcohol-dependent individuals residing in selected rural areas of Vallabhnagar, Udaipur, who were selected through purposive sampling. Prior to the main study, a pilot study was conducted among 15 alcohol-dependent individuals in Dabok, Udaipur, to assess the feasibility, acceptability, clarity of the tools, participant cooperation, accessibility of the setting, and time required for data collection and intervention implementation. Data for the main study were collected using a demographic data sheet, Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The community-based nursing intervention included education regarding alcohol dependence and its harmful effects, counseling, coping strategies, lifestyle modification, motivation, and relapse-prevention measures. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and Chi-square test. The findings showed that the mean ADS score decreased from 43.12 in the pre-test to 33.19 in the post-test, with the greatest reduction observed in the tolerance domain (21.18%). The overall quality-of-life score increased from a mean of 103.7 in the pre-test to 161.9 in the post-test, with improvements observed across the physical, psychological, social-relationship, and environmental domains; perception of quality of life increased from 2.20 to 3.10, while perception of health increased from 2.15 to 3.05. Paired t-test findings demonstrated statistically significant improvements in alcohol dependence and quality of life following the intervention. A strong negative correlation was found between alcohol dependence and quality of life in both the pre-test (r = -0.934, p < 0.001) and post-test (r = -0.8871, p < 0.001), indicating that higher alcohol dependence was associated with poorer quality of life. Chi-square analysis revealed significant associations of alcohol dependence and quality of life with age, gender, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, and occupation, whereas duration of alcohol use was not significantly associated with either outcome. Thus, the findings support the effectiveness of the community-based nursing intervention in reducing alcohol dependence and improving quality of life among alcohol-dependent individuals in selected rural areas of Vallabhnagar, Udaipur.