Effectiveness of brief interventions as part of the screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) model for reducing the non-medical use of psychoactive substances: a systematic review protocol

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a significant public health burden associated with substance use in Canada. The early detection and/or treatment of risky substance use has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for those who experience harms from the non-medical use of psychoactive substances, particularly adolescents whose brains are still undergoing development. The Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment model is a comprehensive, integrated approach for the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for individuals experiencing substance use-related harms, as well as those who are at risk of experiencing such harm.MethodsThis article describes the protocol for a systematic review of the effectiveness of brief interventions as part of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment model for reducing the non-medical use of psychoactive substances. Studies will be selected in which brief interventions target non-medical psychoactive substance use (excluding alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine) among those 12 years and older who are opportunistically screened and deemed at risk of harms related to psychoactive substance use. We will include one-on-one verbal interventions and exclude non-verbal brief interventions (for example, the provision of information such as a pamphlet or online interventions) and group interventions. Primary, secondary and adverse outcomes of interest are prespecified. Randomized controlled trials will be included; non-randomized controlled trials, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time series designs will be considered in the absence of randomized controlled trials. We will search several bibliographic databases (for example, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CORK) and search sources for grey literature. We will meta-analyze studies where possible. We will conduct subgroup analyses, if possible, according to drug class and intervention setting.DiscussionThis review will provide evidence on the effectiveness of brief interventions as part of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment protocol aimed at the non-medical use of psychoactive substances and may provide guidance as to where future research might be most beneficial.

Specialty substance use disorder services following brief alcohol intervention: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…The database search, which was conducted with assistance from a reference librarian, identified peer‐reviewed studies published in the English language until 26 July 2013 in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and CINAHL Plus (see Supporting information, Table S1 for search keywords). A hand search, which targeted peer‐reviewed papers and grey literature, was conducted by examining references of the included studies, SBIRT bibliographies and several relevant review papers . Authors of the identified studies were e‐mailed, requesting that they provide knowledge of existing studies related to the review.…”

The burden of disease attributable to cannabis use in Canada in 2012

“…Delivering brief interventions in emergency departments, primary care and public schools have led to reductions in cannabis use among adolescents [60], and similar findings have also been paralleled among frequent cannabis users [56,61]. There still remains a need for further research on the optimal implementation of the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment framework [62]. Most importantly, the full continuum of this framework needs to be evaluated thoroughly, as opposed to specific components, such as brief interventions or brief treatments [60,63,64].…”

The effects of exercise on COVID-19 therapeutics

“…It has 4 evaluation levels, namely, high (further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect), moderate (further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate), low (further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate), or very low (very uncertain about the estimate of effect). [ 20 ]…”