Feasibility of a computer-assisted alcohol screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment program for DWI offenders

Service-level barriers to and facilitators of accessibility to treatment for problematic alcohol use: a scoping review

Introduction

Services to treat problematic alcohol use (PAU) should be highly accessible to optimize treatment engagement. We conducted a scoping review to map characteristics of services for the treatment of PAU that have been reported in the literature to be barriers to or facilitators of access to treatment from the perspective of individuals with PAU.

Methods

A protocol was developed a priori, registered, and published. We searched MEDLINE®, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and additional grey literature sources from 2010 to April 2022 to identify primary qualitative research and surveys of adults with current or past PAU requiring treatment that were designed to identify modifiable characteristics of PAU treatment services (including psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions) that were perceived to be barriers to or facilitators of access to treatment. Studies of concurrent PAU and other substance use disorders were excluded. Study selection was performed by multiple review team members. Emergent barriers were coded and mapped to the accessibility dimensions of the Levesque framework of healthcare access, then descriptively summarized.

Results

One-hundred-and-nine included studies reported an extensive array of unique service-level barriers that could act alone or together to prevent treatment accessibility. These included but were not limited to lack of an obvious entry point, complexity of the care pathway, high financial cost, unacceptably long wait times, lack of geographically accessible treatment, inconvenient appointment hours, poor cultural/demographic sensitivity, lack of anonymity/privacy, lack of services to treat concurrent PAU and mental health problems.

Discussion

Barriers generally aligned with recent reviews of the substance use disorder literature. Ranking of barriers may be explored in a future discrete choice experiment of PAU service users. The rich qualitative findings of this review may support the design of new or modification of existing services for people with PAU to improve accessibility.

Systematic Review Registration

Open Science Framework doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/S849R.

AuTomaTed Alcohol Misuse INterventions in a Bariatric Surgery Population: The ATTAIN Bariatric Pilot

Introduction Alcohol screening and brief intervention has been shown to reduce unhealthy alcohol use, although widespread adoption into primary care practice has been slow. Patients undergoing bariatric surgery are at an increased risk of unhealthy alcohol use. The authors compared a novel, web-based screening tool called ATTAIN to usual care for real-world effectiveness and accuracy among bariatric surgery registry patients. Methods The authors analyzed the results of a quality improvement project that tested ATTAIN among bariatric surgery registry patients. Participants were stratified into 3 groups by surgery status (preoperative vs postoperative) and prior screening for unhealthy alcohol use (screened vs not screened in the past year). Participants in these 3 groups were divided into intervention plus usual care (n = 2249) and control (n = 2130) groups, with intervention being an email to complete ATTAIN, and control being usual care (eg, office-based screening). Primary outcomes included screening and positivity rates for unhealthy drinking behavior between groups. Secondary outcomes included positivity rates via ATTAIN vs usual care for individuals who were screened by both modalities. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results The overall screening rates were 67.4% (intervention arm) and 38.6% (control). The ATTAIN response rate was 47% of those invited. The overall positive screen rate was 7.7% (intervention) and 2.6% (control); p < .001 for both. For dual screened intervention participants, the positive screen rate was 10% (ATTAIN) vs 2% (usual care) with p < .001. Conclusion ATTAIN is a promising method of increasing screening and detection rates for unhealthy drinking behavior.

Estimating resource utilization demands in implementing statewide screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for alcohol-impaired drivers

OBJECTIVES

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is used to assess the level of alcohol use/misuse and to inform the intensity of intervention delivered within screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) programs. Policy initiatives are recommending delivery of SBIRT within health care settings to reduce alcohol misuse and prevent alcohol-impaired driving. Recent reports are considering extending delivery of SBIRT to criminal justice settings. One consideration in implementing SBIRT delivery is the question of resource utilization; the amount of effort required in delivering the 4 different intensities of intervention in SBIRT: Alcohol education, simple advice, brief counseling and continued monitoring, and brief counseling and referral to specialist (from least to most intense in terms of delivery time, the skill level of the provider, and personnel resources).

METHODS

In order to inform expectations about intervention intensity, this article describes the AUDIT scores from 982 adults recently arrested for alcohol-impaired driving. The distribution of scores is extrapolated to state rates for individuals arrested for alcohol-impaired driving by intervention level.

RESULTS

Though alcohol education was the most common intervention category, about one quarter of the sample scored in a range corresponding with the more intensive interventions using the brief counseling, continued monitoring for ongoing alcohol use, and/or referral to specialist for diagnostic evaluation and treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

This article provides local distribution of AUDIT scores and state estimates for the number of individuals scoring in each level of risk (AUDIT risk zone) and corresponding intervention type. Routine criminal justice practice is well positioned to deliver alcohol screening, education, simple advice, and continued alcohol monitoring, making delivery of SBIRT feasible for the majority of alcohol-impaired drivers. Challenges to implementing the full range of SBIRT services include resource demands of brief counseling, identifying the appropriate providers within a criminal justice context, and availability of community providers for referral to diagnostic and specialty care. Solutions may vary by state due to differences in population density and incidence rates of alcohol-impaired driving.

Comparing satisfaction, alliance and intervention components in electronically delivered and in-person brief interventions for substance use among childbearing-aged women

Electronic delivery of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (e-SBIRT) may be a low-cost and high-reach method for screening and brief intervention in health care settings. However, its relative acceptability, ability to build a therapeutic alliance, and delivery of key intervention components compared to in-person SBIRT (SBIRT) is unclear. The association of these factors with intervention outcomes is also not known. We compared SBIRT and e-SBIRT on satisfaction, alliance, and receipt of intervention components, and evaluated the extent to which these intervention dimensions were related to later substance use. Data were collected as part of a randomized clinical trial (N = 439) examining SBIRT, e-SBIRT, and enhanced usual care for childbearing-aged women in two reproductive healthcare clinics (see Martino et al. (2018) for main trial findings). Participants receiving SBIRT or e-SBIRT (N = 270) rated satisfaction and alliance following a single-session, brief intervention, based on motivational interviewing that targeted hazardous substance use (tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs and prescribed medications). Trained raters coded audio-recorded SBIRT sessions for the presence of six major intervention components, and evaluated the occurrence of these components in the e-SBIRT software. Overall, participants in both groups reported strong satisfaction (on average, "considerably" to "extremely" satisfied) and perceived working alliance (on average, "very often" to "always" allied). SBIRT participants provided higher overall alliance ratings, felt more encouraged to make their own decisions, and rated the intervention's likely helpfulness to other women higher. Fewer e-SBIRT participants received intervention components focusing on personalized feedback, developing importance of and confidence in making changes to substance use, and developing a plan to change, compared to SBIRT participants. However, e-SBIRT participants were equally or more likely to receive components seeking to help them understand their use, discussing reasons for use, and summarizing and supporting what the patients elected to do. Notably, satisfaction, alliance, and number of intervention components received were not associated with total days of substance use. Although we found no evidence that the intervention characteristics evaluated in this study were associated with outcomes, acceptability and alliance may have other important implications. Findings suggest areas for improvement with respect to e-SBIRT satisfaction and alliance formation. ClinicalTrials.govregistration number: NCT01539525.

Translating transdermal alcohol monitoring procedures for contingency management among adults recently arrested for DWI

Recent developments in alcohol monitoring devices have made it more feasible to use contingency management (CM) procedures to reduce alcohol use. A growing body of literature is demonstrating the effectiveness of CM to reduce alcohol use among community recruited adults wearing transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) monitoring devices. This article describes the quality improvement process aimed at adapting TAC-informed CM aimed at minimizing alcohol use and maximizing treatment completion. This extends literature to a high-risk population; adults arrested and awaiting trial (pretrial) for criminal charge of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Participants were enrolled during their orientation to pretrial supervision conditions of DWI bond release. At enrollment, participants completed a screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment; those with high risk alcohol histories were enrolled in an 8-week CM procedure to avoid TAC readings. Four Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement cycles were conducted where the TAC cutoff for determining alcohol use, the quantity of reinforcer, and handling of tampers on the transdermal alcohol monitor were manipulated. Across four PDSA cycles, the retention for the full 8-weeks of treatment was increased. The proportion of weeks with alcohol use was not decreased across cycles, the peak TAC values observed during drinking weeks were significantly lower in Cycles 1 and 4 than 3. CM may be developed as a tool for pretrial supervision to be used to increase bond compliance of those arrested for DWI and for others as a method to identify the need for additional judicial services.

Steering Clear of Driving After Drinking: a Tailored e-Health Intervention for Reducing Repeat Offending and Modifying Alcohol Use in a High-Risk Cohort

PURPOSE

Digital interventions to reduce risk behaviours are emerging as effective public health measures; however, few have been applied to drink driving and associated alcohol use based on a harm reduction perspective. This paper reports on the design, development, and pilot of a novel intervention which aims to reduce repeat offending by first-time convicted drink driving offenders. It explores whether an online program is acceptable and user friendly and contains useful and relevant content, with a sample of first-time drink driving offenders recruited at the time of conviction.

METHOD

Building upon existing research into interventions to reduce drink driving recidivism and problem alcohol use, a tailored program was designed to provide content specifically concerned with drink driving and with an additional component related to alcohol use. Following stakeholder and internal review, the 'Steering Clear First Offender Drink Driving Program' was subsequently piloted with 15 first-time drink driving offenders. Evaluative data was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

RESULTS

The pilot results indicate that the participants found the program to be user friendly, as demonstrated by high scores in relation to navigation, online delivery, engagement, avatar usage and straightforwardness. They reported that they found the content to be useful and relevant and that the key learning area was in relation to the consequences of drink driving.

CONCLUSION

Online interventions for reducing risky behaviour such as drink driving may be useful and cost effective from a public health perspective. Potentially, they can directly address risky behaviours associated with alcohol use in high-risk cohorts that may not ordinarily receive intervention.

Can progress in reducing alcohol-impaired driving fatalities be resumed? Results of a workshop sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Transportation Committee (ANB50)

OBJECTIVE

Despite successes in the 1980s and early 1990s, progress in reducing impaired driving fatalities in the United States has stagnated in recent years. Since 1997, the percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes with illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels has remained at approximately 20 to 22%. Many experts believe that public complacency, competing social and public health issues, and the lack of political fortitude have all contributed to this stagnation. The number of alcohol-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities is still unacceptable, and most are preventable. The public needs to be aware that the problem presented by drinking drivers has not been solved. Political leaders need guidance on which measures will affect the problem, and stakeholders need to be motivated once again to implement effective strategies.

METHODS

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Transportation Research Board (TRB), Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Transportation Committee (ANB50) sponsored a workshop held at the NAS facility in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on August 24-25, 2015, to discuss the lack of progress in reducing impaired driving and to make recommendations for future progress. A total of 26 experts in research and policy related to alcohol-impaired driving participated in the workshop. The workshop began by examining the static situation in the rate of alcohol-impaired driving fatal crashes to determine what factors may be inhibiting further progress. The workshop then discussed 8 effective strategies that have not been fully implemented in the United States. Workshop participants (16 of the 26) rated their top 3 strategies.

RESULTS

3 strategies received the most support: 1. Impose administrative sanctions for drivers with BACs = 0.05 to 0.08 g/dL. 2. Require alcohol ignition interlocks for all alcohol-impaired driving offenders. 3. Increase the frequency of sobriety checkpoints, including enacting legislation to allow them in the 11 states that currently prohibit them. 5 other important strategies included the following: (1) increase alcohol taxes to raise the price and reduce alcohol consumption; (2) reengage the public and raise the priority of impaired driving; (3) lower the illegal per se BAC limit to 0.05 for a criminal offense; (4) develop and implement in-vehicle alcohol detection systems; and (5) expand the use of screening and brief interventions in medical facilities.

CONCLUSIONS

Each of these strategies is proven to be effective, yet all are substantially underutilized. Each is used in some jurisdictions in the United States or Canada, but none is used extensively. Any one of the 3 strategies implemented on a widespread basis would decrease impaired driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Based on the research, all 3 together would have a substantial impact on the problem.