Purpose We aimed to test the effects of providing municipal support and training to primary health care providers compared to both training alone and to care as usual on the proportion of adult patients having their alcohol consumption measured. Methods We undertook a quasi-experimental study reporting on a 5-month implementation period in 58 primary health care centres from municipal areas within Bogotá (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico), and Lima (Peru). Within the municipal areas, units were randomized to four arms: (1) care as usual (control); (2) training alone; (3) training and municipal support, designed specifically for the study, using a less intensive clinical and training package; and (4) training and municipal support, designed specifically for the study, using a more intense clinical and training package. The primary outcome was the cumulative proportion of consulting adult patients out of the population registered within the centre whose alcohol consumption was measured (coverage). Results The combination of municipal support and training did not result in higher coverage than training alone (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.0, 95% CI = 0.6 to 0.8). Training alone resulted in higher coverage than no training (IRR = 9.8, 95% CI = 4.1 to 24.7). Coverage did not differ by intensity of the clinical and training package (coefficient = 0.8, 95% CI 0.4 to 1.5). Conclusions Training of providers is key to increasing coverage of alcohol measurement amongst primary health care patients. Although municipal support provided no added value, it is too early to conclude this finding, since full implementation was shortened due to COVID-19 restrictions. Trial Registration Clinical Trials.gov ID: NCT03524599; Registered 15 May 2018; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03524599

Funding The research leading to these results or outcomes has received funding from the European Horizon 2020 Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement no. 778048-Scale-up of Prevention and Management of Alcohol Use Disorders and Comorbid Depression in Latin America (SCALA). Participant organisations in SCALA can be seen at: www. scalaproject. eu. The views expressed here reflect those of the authors only and the European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The Funder was not involved in the study design. The funder will not be involved in the collection, analysis, interpretation of data and preparations of any publication. Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details. Patient consent for publication Not required. Ethics approval The Ethics Committee of the Technical University of Dresden gave final ethical approval for the SCALA project on 12 April 2019, EK90032018.

Background : While primary health care-based prevention and management of heavy drinking is clinically effective and cost-effective, it remains poorly implemented in routine practice. Systematic reviews and multi-country studies have demonstrated the ability of training and support programmes for healthcare professionals to increase primary health care-based measurement and brief advice activity to reduce heavy drinking. However, gains have been only modest and short term at best. WHO studies have concluded that a more effective uptake could be achieved by embedding primary health care activity within broader municipal-based support. Methods : A quasi-experimental study will compare primary health care-based prevention and management of heavy drinking in three intervention municipal areas from Colombia, Mexico and Peru with three comparator municipal areas from the same countries. In the implementation municipal areas, primary health care units will receive training embedded within ongoing supportive municipal action over an 18-month implementation test period. In the comparator municipal areas, half the units will receive training, and the other half will continue with practice as usual. The primary outcome is the proportion of the adult population (aged 18+ years) registered with the unit that has their alcohol consumption measured. Return-on-investment analyses and full process evaluation will be undertaken, coupled with an analysis of potential contextual, financial and political-economy influencing factors. Discussion : This multi-country study will test the extent to which embedding primary health care-based prevention and management of heavy drinking within supportive municipal action leads to improved scale-up of more patients having their alcohol consumption measured, and subsequently receiving appropriate advice and treatment.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase of heavy alcohol use has been reported in several high-income countries. We examined changes in alcohol use during the pandemic among primary health care (PHC) patients in two middle income countries, Colombia and Mexico. Methods Data were collected during routine consultations in 34 PHC centres as part of a large-scale implementation study. Providers measured patients’ alcohol consumption with the three item ‘Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test’ (AUDIT-C). Generalized linear mixed models were performed to examine changes in two dependent variables over time (pre-pandemic and during pandemic): 1) the AUDIT-C score and 2) the proportion of heavy drinking patients (8+ on AUDIT-C). Results Over a period of more than 600 days, data from N = 17 273 patients were collected. During the pandemic, the number of patients with their alcohol consumption measured decreased in Colombia and Mexico. Each month into the pandemic was associated with a 1.5% and 1.9% reduction in the mean AUDIT-C score in Colombia and Mexico, respectively. The proportion of heavy drinking patients declined during the pandemic in Colombia (pre-pandemic: 5.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.8% to 6.0%; during the pandemic: 0.8%, 95% CI = 0.6% to 1.1%) but did not change in Mexico. Conclusions Average consumption levels declined and the prevalence of heavy drinking patterns did not increase. In addition to reduced opportunities for social drinking during the pandemic, changes in the population seeking PHC and restrictions in alcohol availability and affordability are likely drivers for lower levels of alcohol use by patients in this study.

Introduction Implementation of evidence-based care for heavy drinking and depression remains low in global health systems. We tested the impact of providing community support, training, and clinical packages of varied intensity on depression screening and management for heavy drinking patients in Latin American primary healthcare. Materials and methods Quasi-experimental study involving 58 primary healthcare units in Colombia, Mexico and Peru randomized to receive: (1) usual care (control); (2) training using a brief clinical package; (3) community support plus training using a brief clinical package; (4) community support plus training using a standard clinical package. Outcomes were proportion of: (1) heavy drinking patients screened for depression; (2) screen-positive patients receiving appropriate support; (3) all consulting patients screened for depression, irrespective of drinking status. Results 550/615 identified heavy drinkers were screened for depression (89.4%). 147/230 patients screening positive for depression received appropriate support (64%). Amongst identified heavy drinkers, adjusting for country, sex, age and provider profession, provision of community support and training had no impact on depression activity rates. Intensity of clinical package also did not affect delivery rates, with comparable performance for brief and standard versions. However, amongst all consulting patients, training providers resulted in significantly higher rates of alcohol measurement and in turn higher depression screening rates; 2.7 times higher compared to those not trained. Conclusions Training using a brief clinical package increased depression screening rates in Latin American primary healthcare. It is not possible to determine the effectiveness of community support on depression activity rates due to the impact of COVID-19.