Implementing Adolescent Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Education in a Pediatric Residency Curriculum.

BACKGROUND: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is recommended as part of routine health care for adolescents as well as adults. In an effort to promote universal SBIRT, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded funding to residency programs to develop and implement SBIRT education and training. Our project focused on creating scientifically based, developmentally appropriate strategies and teaching materials for the adolescent age range. This paper describes curriculum development and implementation and presents evaluation data. METHODS: Pediatric and child psychiatry residents were trained. The training consisted of 4 activities: (1) case-based teaching modules, (2) role-play of motivational interviewing and brief interventions, (3) mock interviews with trained adolescents, and (4) supervised "hands-on" screening and brief interventions. Main outcome measures included trainee satisfaction, and SBIRT knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, and self- and observer report of use of the SBIRT algorithm. RESULTS: Among 150 total participants completing the SBIRT training modules, nearly all (92.3%) were satisfied/very satisfied with the training modules. Knowledge accuracy immediately post training was high, but declined significantly by the end of the first residency year, with little change across subsequent years of residency. Confidence ratings also declined over time. Use of the SBIRT algorithm during the Adolescent Medicine rotation was high according to trainee self- and faculty observer report. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of training satisfaction, increased confidence in talking to adolescents about substance use, and widespread use of recommended practices immediately following training. Use of a highly structured algorithm to guide practice, and simple, highly structured brief interventions was a successful training approach, as residents self-reported accurate use of the SBIRT algorithm immediately after training. Knowledge and self-confidence declined over time. It is possible that "booster" sessions and ongoing opportunities to review materials could help residents retain knowledge and skills.

Virtual Care in an Outpatient Subspecialty Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program.

OBJECTIVES: This article reports on the experience of an outpatient adolescent substance use disorder treatment program transitioning to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the processes used to make the transition, including development of a safety protocol for patients seen virtually, present clinical volume data before and after the transition, and we describe a range of patient experiences through 3 clinical vignettes. METHODS: Using data from the electronic health record, we generated counts of the total number of scheduled and completed appointments between December 2019 and June 2020. We used simple proportions to calculate the completed visit rate. RESULTS: Both the absolute number of scheduled appointment and the percent of appointments completed increased with the initiation of virtual care, supporting the acceptability of this modality. Several patients experienced clinical improvements in conjunction with greater engagement, though challenges were also noted. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual visits are a practical mode of treatment for adolescent substance use disorders, and more evidence is needed to understand the risks and benefits of this treatment modality.

Association Between Substance Use Diagnoses and Psychiatric Disorders in an Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic-Based Population.

PURPOSE: Adolescents with substance use disorders are more likely to have a current psychiatric disorder. However, when compared with the adult literature, there is relatively limited information regarding the specific co-occurrence of certain mental health diagnoses and substance use disorders in adolescents. The objectives of this study were to build on the previous literature regarding mental health diagnoses and different types of substance use disorders in adolescents, as well as explore the differences, if any, between groupings of mental health diagnosis and type of substance used. METHODS: Data were extracted from the clinical records of 483 individuals aged 11-24 years referred for an evaluation at the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children's Hospital. According to DSM-IV-Text Revision criteria, individuals received diagnoses of substance abuse or dependence and any additional psychiatric disorders. Problematic use was included within the sample for greater power analysis. A multivariable logistic regression model estimated the association between psychiatric diagnosis and substance use while adjusting for covariates including age and gender. RESULTS: Multiple significant associations were found, including having any anxiety-related diagnosis and opioid use (odds ratio [OR] = 2.23, p < .001), generalized anxiety disorder and opioids (OR = 3.42, p = .008), cocaine and post-traumatic stress disorder (OR = 3.61, p = .01), and marijuana and externalizing behavior disorders (OR = 2.10, p = .024). CONCLUSIONS: Our study found multiple significant associations between specific substances and certain co-occurring psychiatric disorders. The use of office screening systems to efficiently identify these youths should be a part of routine medical and psychiatric care.

[Evaluation of the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT/CESARE scale for screening drug use by adolescents]. / Avaliação da versão brasileira da escala CRAFFT/CESARE para uso de drogas por adolescentes.

The scope of this article is to present the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT scale for screening drug use among adolescents and to assess its comprehensibility. It is a descriptive and quantitative study, which evaluated the applicability of the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT scale through a convenience sample of adolescents aged 14-21 enrolled at two technical schools. Three main aspects were evaluated: difficulty in understanding the scale; the validity of the translated scale comparing a subsample (28,8%) that also filled out the CEBRID questionnaire; and the percentage of adolescents who scored positive on the CRAFFT/CESARE using the pre-established cutoff point. The kappa coefficient was applied to establish correspondence between questionnaires and the ROC curve was used to evaluate the psychometric differences within different cutoffs. The CRAFFT/CESARE scale was applied in 2005 students, of which 1882 are within the defined age bracket. Only 2.2% of adolescents had difficulty in understanding the questions. The specificity of the CRAFFT/CESARE scale was 73.3%, and sensitivity was 87.1%. The concordance degree (Kappa) was considered good (0.461). The CRAFFT/CESARE scored positive in 36.2% of the adolescents.

Avaliação da versão brasileira da escala CRAFFT/CESARE para uso de drogas por adolescentes / Evaluation of the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT/CESARE scale for screening drug use by adolescentes

Resumo O artigo tem por objetivos apresentar a versão brasileira da escala CRAFFT de triagem de uso de drogas entre adolescentes e analisar sua compreensibilidade. Estudo descritivo e quantitativo, que avaliou versão brasileira da escala CRAFFT, e aferiu sua aplicabilidade em amostra por conveniência composta por escolares de 14 a 21 anos, regularmente matriculados em duas escolas técnicas. Foram analisados: a dificuldade de compreensão; a capacidade de avaliação através da comparação com o questionário do CEBRID aplicado em 28,8% dos estudantes; e o percentual de adolescentes considerados CRAFFT/CESARE positivos pelo ponto de corte. O coeficiente Kappa foi aplicado como medida de concordância entre os questionários e diferenças psicométricas com pontos de corte diversos foram avaliadas pela curva ROC. A escala CRAFFT/CESARE foi aplicada em 2005 alunos, sendo 1882 da faixa etária determinada. Apenas 2,2% dos adolescentes referiu dificuldade com o entendimento das questões. A especificidade da escala CRAFFT/CESARE foi de 73,3% e a sensibilidade 87,1%. O grau de concordância foi considerado bom (0,461). O CRAFFT/CESARE foi positivo em 36,2% dos adolescentes.

Abstract The scope of this article is to present the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT scale for screening drug use among adolescents and to assess its comprehensibility. It is a descriptive and quantitative study, which evaluated the applicability of the Brazilian version of the CRAFFT scale through a convenience sample of adolescents aged 14–21 enrolled at two technical schools. Three main aspects were evaluated: difficulty in understanding the scale; the validity of the translated scale comparing a subsample (28,8%) that also filled out the CEBRID questionnaire; and the percentage of adolescents who scored positive on the CRAFFT/CESARE using the pre-established cutoff point. The kappa coefficient was applied to establish correspondence between questionnaires and the ROC curve was used to evaluate the psychometric differences within different cutoffs. The CRAFFT/CESARE scale was applied in 2005 students, of which 1882 are within the defined age bracket. Only 2.2% of adolescents had difficulty in understanding the questions. The specificity of the CRAFFT/CESARE scale was 73.3%, and sensitivity was 87.1%. The concordance degree (Kappa) was considered good (0.461). The CRAFFT/CESARE scored positive in 36.2% of the adolescents.

Experiência em atendimento ao adolescente em um ambulatório hospitalar de rede pública / Experience in attendance to the adolescent in an outpatient clinics hospital of public net

Os autores relatam sua experiência em atendimento ambulatorial de 616 adolescentes, em um Serviço de rede pública. Apresentam a relaçäo dos diagnósticos formulados em 2197 consultas, ressaltando alta prevalência de distúrbios psicossociais, afecçöes psicossomáticas e dores psicogênicas, assim como várias patologias relacionadas ao baixo nível sócio-econômicos. Problemas específicos da puberdade e patologias necessitando atendimento especializado foram raros. Os autores concluem que um pediatra ( ou clínico) geral, com uma visäo global da saúde, é o médico mais capacitado para atender adolescentes, desde que tenha certa formaçäo na área, e disponibilidade afetiva para atendê-los