Brief intervention addressing excessive cannabis use in young people consulting their GP: a pilot study

Abstract

SettingSeven family practices in Switzerland. MethodThe team collaborated with GPs and young people to develop the intervention. Seven GPs piloted its use in their consultations. Patients aged 15 to 24 years consulting for any health problem were recruited before the consultation. Cannabis use, other substance use, and their psychosocial correlates were assessed with a short confidential questionnaire administered before the consultation and 1 month later. GPs, staff, and patients were asked to comment on the study and its feasibility. ResultsOf 81 young people invited to participate, 78 (70% female) agreed (participation rate: 96%). One in seven (13.2%, 95% confidence interval = 7.5% to 18.9%) used cannabis at least once a week. Data at 1 month were available for 42% who had provided email contact details and 91% of those who had provided their mobile phone number (63% overall). In most cases, the intervention lasted no more than 5 minutes. Comments from participants added favourable data towards the feasibility of the study. ConclusionThis pilot study provides a solid base on which to build a randomised trial of a brief intervention addressing cannabis use in young people consulting in family practice.

Effectiveness of training family physicians to deliver a brief intervention to address excessive substance use among young patients: a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…The pilot study in 7 practices was successful in showing that the intervention could be used during the consultation to address binge drinking and excessive cannabis use. 30 The reduction in the proportion of excessive substance users 1 month after exposure to the brief intervention in the pilot practices, consistent with that reported in trials involving adults, 20 provided support for the validity of our approach. 30 During the training, the practitioners were instructed to go through some or all of the 5As depending on their assessment of the patient's need and motivation to change.…”

“…Thus, the baseline surveys were collected in sealed envelopes before the consul-tation and not made available to the physicians to help them identify patients at risk. 30 As a result, all young people who consented to participate were included in the trial, not only those who reported excessive substance use at baseline.…”

“…The intervention was developed by the pilot team (the research team in collaboration with the 10 family physicians who formed the advisory group in the pilot study). 30 We chose the 5As framework because it proposes a structure to provide key elements associated with successful brief interventions, such as personalized feedback and setting of goals. 38 The pilot team created a checklist that was used by practitioners both to support them in delivering the intervention and to monitor how they delivered it ( Figure 1).…”

“…30 We designed a cluster randomized controlled trial to be conducted in family medicine practices in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (in Switzerland, these practitioners also include general internists and pediatricians). Randomization was done at the practice level, because contamination between groups might otherwise have occurred had patients been randomized.…”

Comparaison des représentations et comportements des médecins généralistes du Canton de Genève et du Poitou-Charentes

“…À l'échelle d'une population, la prise en charge des addictions concernant le tabac, l'alcool, le cannabis et les opiacés relève essentiellement des médecins généralistes (MG) [1][2][3]. En France, selon le Baromètre santé 2009 [4], près de deux tiers des MG sont consultés par un usager dépen-dant aux opiacés dans l'année, et 59 % par un usager de cannabis.…”