Short-term changes in substance use among problematic alcohol and drug users from a general population sample

Abstract

Sinadinovic, K., Wennberg, P., & Berman, A. (2014). Short-term changes in substance use among problematic alcohol and drug users from a general population sample. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 3(4), 277-287. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i4.186Aims: To investigate 12-month changes among individuals with baseline problematic use of alcohol or illicit drugs, by gender, age, initial level of substance use, and administration method (Internet or Interactive Voice Response, IVR).Design: 1,861 individuals from a random population sample were screened for problematic alcohol and illicit drug use. Individuals screening positive were followed up after 12 months.Setting: The Swedish general population.Participants: 423 individuals with baseline problematic alcohol (women: AUDIT ≥ 6, men: AUDIT ≥ 8) or drug use (both genders: DUDIT ≥ 1).Measures: AUDIT, DUDIT, AUDIT-C and DUDIT-C scores.Findings: AUDIT scores decreased from 10.43 to 8.62; among 239 participants with baseline problematic alcohol use, 34.3% no longer had problematic use at follow-up. Total DUDIT scores decreased from 4.92 to 2.33; among 51 participants with baseline problematic drug use, 60.8% reported no illicit drug use at follow-up. AUDIT and DUDIT scores decreased more for individuals who at baseline had harmful problematic use, compared to those who had hazardous baseline use. Within-group effect sizes for AUDIT and DUDIT scores varied between 0.29 and 0.69 (Cohen’s d).Conclusions: Data on short-term change in problematic substance use in a random general population sample could constitute a reference point for comparisons for uncontrolled treatment studies.