Emergency Department Screening for Unhealthy Alcohol and Drug Use with a Brief Tablet-Based Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Addiction Medicine
• Digital Health

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) face challenges in screening for unhealthy alcohol and drug use due to crowding and limited resources.
• A brief tablet-based method was explored to overcome these screening barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and utility of a tablet-based screening tool in the ED.
• To determine patient willingness for follow-up with a certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC) via this interface.

Main Methods:

• 500 patients were offered a tablet-based questionnaire; 283 were enrolled over 4 weeks.
• Inclusion criteria: age ≥18, Emergency Severity Index 2-5, English comprehension; exclusion: acute intoxication or sedating medication.

Main Results:

• Enrollment represented a 183% increase in monthly patient referrals for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT).
• 46% screened positive for unhealthy alcohol and/or drug use.
• Only 15% of those screening positive indicated a face-to-face meeting with a CADC for SBIRT would be helpful.

Conclusions:

• Tablet-based screening effectively increased the identification of adult patients with unhealthy alcohol and drug use in the ED.
• A minority of patients identified via this method perceived face-to-face counseling as beneficial.