Brief counseling can reduce or stop drug use

AORN Journal,  May, 2005  

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A new study shows that meeting with an addiction peer counselor just once at the time of a routine physician visit and receiving a follow-up telephone call can motivate abusers of cocaine and heroin to reduce their drug use, according to a Jan 5, 2005, news release from the National Institutes of Health. The study was conducted by researchers at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston.

The study included 1,175 men and women who tested positive for cocaine or heroin abuse. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group. Intervention consisted of

* a motivational interview with a substance abuse outreach worker who was a recovering addict,

* referrals to drug abuse treatment programs,

* a list of treatment options, and

* a follow-up telephone call 10 days after the intervention.

Members of the control group received only the list of treatment options.

The 20-minute, motivational interview used in the study was designed to establish rapport with participants. Interviewers asked permission to discuss drugs, explored the pros and cons of drug use, discussed the gap between real and desired quality of life, and assessed participants' readiness to change. The intervention also included development of an action plan.

The researchers found that six months after enrollment, among those who abused cocaine, 22.3% of the intervention group was abstinent from the drug, compared to 16.9% of the control group; among those who abused heroin, 40.2% of the intervention group was abstinent from the drug, compared to 30.6% of the control group. Among users of both drugs, 17.4% of the intervention group was drug free, compared to 12.8% of the control group.

Brief Encounters Can Provide Motivation To Reduce or Stop Drug Abuse (news release, Bethesda, Md: National Institutes of Health, Jan 5, 2005) http://www.nih.gov/nees/pr/jan2005/nida-05.htm (accessed 7 Jan 2005).

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