Table 5:
Self-reported use of brief intervention by physicians in intervention group and sensitivity in identifying excessive substance use
| Variable | All patients, no. (%) n = 272* |
Patients reporting excessive substance use, no. (%) n = 124† |
Patients with excessive substance use according to FP, no. (%) n = 51 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time spent administering brief intervention with each patient, min | |||
| ≤ 5 | 150 (57.0) | 50 (40.2) | 9 (18.0) |
| 6–10 | 90 (34.2) | 57 (45.9) | 28 (55.0) |
| 10–15 | 15 (5.7) | 11 (9.0) | 8 (16.0) |
| > 15 | 8 (3.0) | 6 (4.9) | 5 (10.0) |
| FP screened for substance use (first of 5 As) | 269 (98.9)§ | 123 (99.2) | 51 (100.0) |
| No. of steps in 5As framework FP reported doing | |||
| None | 3 (1.1) | 1 (0.8) | 0 |
| 1 | 89 (32.7) | 22 (17.7) | 5 (9.8) |
| 2 | 96 (35.3) | 46 (37.1) | 9 (17.6) |
| 3 | 41 (15.1) | 19 (15.3) | 9 (17.6) |
| 4 | 24 (8.8) | 22 (17.7) | 17 (33.3) |
| 5 | 19 (7.0) | 13 (10.5) | 11 (21.6) |
| Sensitivity of FPs’ identification of binge drinking, %‡ | NA | NA | 33.6 |
| Sensitivity of FPs’ identification of excessive cannabis use, %‡ | NA | NA | 59.4 |
Note: FP = family physician (in Switzerland, family medicine practitioners also include general internists and pediatricians), NA = not applicable.
*
Data missing for 15 patients.
†
Data missing for 6 patients.
‡
Percentage of patients correctly identified by FPs as experiencing excessive substance use (patient’s self-report in baseline survey used as reference standard).
§
Includes 4 patients who were known substance users and were thus not formally screened.