Tait 2015.
| Methods | RCT comparing a web‐based CBT to a waiting‐list control | |
| Participants | 160 adults who reported ATS use in last 3 months Mean age: intervention: 22.2 (SD 5.5) years; control: 22.5 (SD 7.1) years Gender: intervention: 64 (79%) men; control: 57 (72%) men |
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| Interventions |
Intervention: web‐based CBT intervention with 3 modules (81 participants) Control: waiting‐list control (79 participants) |
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| Outcomes | Self‐reported ATS use, quality of life, psychological distress, day out of role, poly‐drug use, general help‐seeking intentions, actual help‐seeking and readiness to change | |
| Notes | Country: Australia Funding: Australian Government of Health and Ageing, NHMRC Fellowship, Curtin University Research Fellowship Declaration of interest: no conflicts of interest |
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| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low risk | Quote: "The randomisation process will be fully automated with permuted blocks of four and will be implemented within the program." (Tait 2012). Comment: the previously published methodology reported that sequence generation was automated. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Low risk | Probably done because the procedure was fully automated. |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | Unclear risk | No information to permit judgement. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | High risk | Almost half of intervention group participants dropped out. Quote: "The primary analysis was on an intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis." Comment: ITT analysis was done but missing outcomes were large and imbalanced across groups. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Low risk | All outcome measures described in the methodology paper were reported. |
| Other bias | Low risk | It appears to be free of other sources of bias. |
ATS: amphetamine‐type stimulant; CBT: cognitive‐behavioural treatment; DSM‐IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition; ITT: intention to treat; MDMA: 3,4‐methylenedioxy‐methamphetamine; NHMRC: National Health and Medical Research Council; RCT: randomised controlled trial; SD: standard deviation.