Brief primary care intervention cut risky drug use among Latinos by 40 percent

FINDINGSNew research finds that brief interventions in a primary care clinic can reduce patients ’ risky substance use by 4.5 days per month — a 40 percent decline among the Latino patients surveyed — compared with people who did not receive the brief intervention. This corresponds to two fewer weekends of drug use per month, or one less day of use per weekend, or a shorter monthly binge period.BACKGROUNDThe findings duplicate those of the Quit  Using Drugs Intervention Trial, or Project QUIT — conducted by the same research team in 2011 and 2012 — which is aimed at reducing risky drug use. The risky use includes casual, frequent or binge use of illicit drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, or the misuse of prescriptio n medications, without showing physiological or psychological signs of severe substance use. The trial was conducted in a primary care clinic in East Los Angeles.Previous research demonstrated that a brief intervention by a primary care physician can significantly reduce risky drug use among patients.Subsequent research found that misuse of both prescription and illicit drugs is prevalent enough in Tijuana and East Los Angeles that community clinics in those areas should routinely, though discreetly, screen for it.For this study the researchers took the same principles they used in Project QUIT and applied them in one of the community clinics where they had tested the intervention.METHODThe trial was conducted from March through Octob...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news