Computerized versus in-person brief intervention for drug misuse: a randomized clinical trial.
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ABSTRACT: Several studies have found that brief interventions (BIs) for drug misuse have superior effectiveness to no-treatment controls. However, many health centers do not provide BIs for drug use consistently due to insufficient behavioral health staff capacity. Computerized BIs for drug use are a promising approach, but their effectiveness compared with in-person BIs has not been established. This study compared the effectiveness of a computerized brief intervention (CBI) to an in-person brief intervention (IBI) delivered by a behavioral health counselor.Two-arm randomized clinical trial, conducted in two health centers in New Mexico, United States. Participants were 360 adult primary care patients with moderate-risk drug scores on the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) who were randomly assigned on a 1?:?1 basis to a computerized brief intervention (CBI) or to an in-person brief intervention (IBI) delivered by a behavioral health counselor. Assessments were conducted at baseline and 3-month follow-up, and included the ASSIST and drug testing on hair samples.The IBI and CBI conditions did not differ at 3 months on global ASSIST drug scores [b?=?-1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI)?=?-4.37, 0.80] or drug-positive hair tests [odds ratio (OR)?=?0.97; 95% CI?=?0.47, 2.02]. There was a statistically significant advantage of CBI over IBI in substance-specific ASSIST scores for marijuana (b?=?-1.73; 95% CI?=?-2.91, -0.55; Cohen's d?=?0.26; P?=?0.004) and cocaine (b?=?-4.48; 95% CI?=?-8.26, -0.71; Cohen's d?=?0.50; P?=?0.021) at 3 months.Computerized brief intervention can be an effective alternative to in-person brief intervention for addressing moderate drug use in primary care.
SUBMITTER: Schwartz RP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4086904 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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