Role of Early Brief Psychological Interventions in Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effects of early brief psychological interventions in patients of substance use disorders. Study Design and Setting: This descriptive prospective study was conducted at main reception centre filter clinic/ Emergency Department of PNS Shifa hospital from 1st July 2020 to 31st March 2021. Methodology: Total n=78 patients were identified after a simple screening question regarding substance abuse which was how many times the patient had used an illegal drug in the last one year. An answer of more than 1 was considered as a positive response and further screening was done with Drug and Alcohol screening test (DAST). Patients who showed low scores on DAST were recommended for brief interventions which were given as weekly sessions for 6 weeks and reassessment was done at 3rd month. The SPSS 20 package program was used for statistical analysis. The descriptive statistics were analyzed for all the variables evaluated in the study. Results: This study revealed that that after 3 months of brief psychological interventions, 43(55.1%) patients remained abstinent from drugs. 18(23%) patients did not report for follow up. 9(11.5%) had reduced their use while 8(10.2%) were still using drugs regularly. Conclusion: This study showed that brief psychological interventions at the level of filter clinics/Emergency departments can help patients of substance use seek early care who fear going to a psychiatric clinic.