ArticleJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open2026
Peer Support Workers to Improve Emergency Department Care Completion Among Patients Who Use Substances: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: Assess feasibility of a randomized trial and the hypothesis that emergency department (ED) Peer support workers (Peers), who share personal lived experiences and resources, may decrease ED patients with substance use who leave before treatment completion (LBTC). Specific objectives included assessing operational feasibility, estimating recruitment rates, and seeking preliminary evidence of benefit to support the definitive trial. Methods: Pragmatic, open-label pilot randomized trial over the initial 15 weeks of an ED Peer program. Shifts randomized 2:1 to Peer support or usual care.We analyzed patients aged 18-75 years with the 3 most common substance use-related presenting complaints: (1) localized swelling/redness, (2) withdrawal, and (3) substance misuse/intoxication.Feasibility outcomes were patient acceptance and recruitment rate. The primary measure was LBTC (shift level and patient level). Exploratory analyses evaluated naloxone kits and 48-hour ED revisits. Results: There were 72 intervention shifts (391 visits) and 37 control shifts (198 visits). Patients had a median age of 44 (IQR 35-54); 71.3% were male. Feasibility: A total of 94.9% of patients accepted Peer support. The mean recruitment rate was 30 patient visits per week. LBTC: Mean LBTC was 17.0% (SD 18.3%) among Peer shifts, and 23.1% (SD 22.8%) among control shifts, a difference of -6.1% (95% CI -14.6%, 2.4%).The Peer modestly impacted patient-level LBTC (OR 0.78 [95% CI 0.46, 1.32]). Among patients with substance misuse/intoxication or withdrawal, the Peer decreased odds of LBTC (21.4% vs 26.9%; OR 0.39 [95% CI 0.18, 0.84]). Exploratory: Peer interaction increased odds of receiving a naloxone kit (OR 2.33 [95% CI 1.34, 4.04]) and decreased 48-hour ED return visits (OR 0.46 [95% CI 0.22, 0.95]). Conclusion: An ED Peer may decrease LBTC among patients who use substances. A randomized trial is feasible.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.