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Emergency department-based brief interventions to reduce use and harms
Summary of the evidence
Brief interventions in emergency settings were found in a systematic review without meta-analysis (EMCDDA, 2016, 16 studies, N=8 875) to have no effect in:
- significantly decreasing substance use (mainly alcohol) and related harms
The same results were confirmed in a more recent narrative systematic review (Kaczorowski et al., 2020, 12 studies) that focused specifically on ER-initiated interventions for opioid users.
Details
Note: this evidence summary is only valid for the outcomes, target groups, settings and substances/patterns of use described below.
