To evaluate the effectiveness of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s “Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment” program, researchers compared substance use prior to the intervention with substance use six months after participants received intervention. The grant project, referred to as SBIRT, began in 2003 to screen patients in medical settings for substance use disorders. Depending on outcomes, the program includes brief intervention, brief treatment or referral to treatment. Evaluating a sample of 17,575 patients treated in healthcare facilities, the researchers found large and statistically significant decreases for almost every measure of substance use following SBIRT intervention. After six months, alcohol-use prevalence fell by almost 36 percent, heavy drinking by 43 percent and illicit drug use by 76 percent. The greater the intensity of intervention, the larger the decreases in substance use. The researchers wrote that they can’t document a causal link between SBIRT and estimated decreases, but that there does appear to be an association between the intervention and improved outcomes. They point out several caveats, including the absence of a control group for comparison.

Take away: Asking questions about and providing brief interventions and referrals in the medical setting could make a significant difference in subsequent substance use. Prevention and intervention experts on college campuses could partner with affiliated medical centers and others in the community to encourage such interventions.

Aldridge A, Linford R, Bray J (2017) Substance use outcomes of patients served by a large US implementation of screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT), Addiction, 112, 43-53