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Friday, May 8, 2009

SBIRT Outcomes in Houston: Final Report on InSight, a Hospital District-Based Program for Patients at Risk for Alcohol or Drug Use Problems

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Published Online: 7 May 2009


Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) services have been implemented as the standard of care for patients in the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD). The present analysis addresses alcohol and drug use for patients admitted over a 39-month period from July 1, 2005 through September 30, 2008.


The results were consistent with but of greater magnitude than most other studies reporting positive outcomes for SBIRT patients. Drug use and heavy alcohol use were found to decrease substantially from admission to follow-up. This finding holds good for all levels of drug or alcohol misuse severity, with the highest severity patients showing the largest decreases. Future studies are needed to control for potential regression to the mean effects and to develop improved understanding of differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity.




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