Trial reportSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2015
The efficacy of a blended motivational interviewing and problem solving therapy intervention to reduce substance use among patients presenting for emergency services in South Africa: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Motivational interviewing for substance use reduction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions to reduce harmful alcohol use in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness and implementation outcomes for peer-delivered mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of Brief Intervention for Unhealthy Drug Use in Outpatient Medical Care: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Patient-level interventions to reduce alcohol-related harms in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-summary.PLoS medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Primary-level worker interventions for the care of people living with mental disorders and distress in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Motivational Interviewing in Ethnic Populations.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Related Symptoms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Does Reducing Alcohol Use Among People with HIV Alleviate Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Depression? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Tshwane, South Africa.AIDS and behavior · 2024Trial
- Motivational interviewing and problem-solving therapy intervention for patients on antiretroviral therapy for HIV in Tshwane, South Africa: A randomized controlled trial to assess the impact on alcohol consumption.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Task Sharing or Task Dumping: Counsellors Experiences of Delivering a Psychosocial Intervention for Mental Health Problems in South Africa.Community mental health journal · 2021Trial
- A Health Technician-delivered Brief Intervention linked to AUDIT for reduction of alcohol use in Chilean primary care: a randomized controlled trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2021Trial
- Technology and implementation science to forge the future of evidence-based psychotherapies: the PRIDE scale-up study.Evidence-based mental health · 2021Trial
- A randomized clinical trial of mobile phone motivational interviewing for alcohol use problems in Kenya.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2020Trial
- Readiness to change is a predictor of reduced substance use involvement: findings from a randomized controlled trial of patients attending South African emergency departments.BMC psychiatry · 2016Trial
- Vida PURA: An assessment of the fidelity of promotor-delivered screening and brief intervention to reduce unhealthy alcohol use among Latino day laborers.Journal of ethnicity in substance abuseTrial
- "Cigarettes led me back to smoking tik": lived experience perspectives on tobacco use during substance use treatment and recovery in South Africa.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- "Being a man is like being put in a box": A qualitative study of adolescent boys' and young men's understanding and experiences of mental health in an urban community in South Africa.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Article
- A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe treatment of substance use disorders is a public health priority, particularly in South Africa where the prevalence of these disorders is high. We tested two peer-counsellor delivered brief interventions (BIs) for risky substance use among adults presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in South Africa.
methodsIn this randomised controlled trial, we enrolled patients presenting to one of three 24-hour EDs who screened at risk for substance use according to the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST). Eligible patients were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: Motivational Interviewing (MI), blended MI and Problem Solving Therapy (MI-PST) or a Psycho-educational Control Group (CG). The primary outcome was reduction in ASSIST scores at three months follow-up.
resultsOf the 2736 patients screened, 335 met inclusion criteria, were willing to participate in the intervention and were randomised to one of three conditions: 113 to MI, 112 to MI-PST and 110 to CG. ASSIST scores at three months were lower in the MI-PST group than they were in the MI and CG groups (adjusted mean difference of -1.72, 95 % CI -3.36 - -0.08). We recorded no significant difference in ASSIST scores between the CG and MI group (adjusted mean difference of -0.02, 95 % CI -2.01 - 1.96).
conclusionWith the addition of minimal resources, BIs are feasible to conduct in EDs in a low resourced country. These preliminary findings report that MI-PST appears to be an effective BI for reducing substance use among at risk participants. Further research is required to replicate these findings with effort to limit attrition, to determine whether reductions in substance use are persistent at 6 and 12 month follow-up and whether parallel changes occur in other indications of treatment outcomes, such as injury rates and ED presentations.
trial registrationThis trial registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR201308000591418).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.