title: Effectiveness of nurse-practitioner-delivered brief motivational intervention for young adult alcohol and drug use in primary care in South Africa: a randomized clinical trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness of brief motivational intervention for alcohol and drug use in young adult primary care patients in a low-income population and country.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized controlled trial in a public-sector clinic in Delft, a township in the Western Cape, South Africa recruited 403 patients who were randomized to either single-session, nurse practitioner-delivered Brief Motivational Intervention plus referral list or usual care plus referral list, and followed up at 3 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although rates of at-risk alcohol use and drug use did not differ by treatment arm at follow-up, patients assigned to the Brief Motivational Intervention had significantly reduced scores on ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test) for alcohol-the most prevalent substance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Brief Motivational Intervention may be effective at reducing at-risk alcohol use in the short term among low-income young adult primary care patients; additional research is needed to examine long-term outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA jennifer.mertens@kp.org.
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Graham F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Bresick
authors.affiliation: National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Broder
authors.affiliation: Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Constance M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Weisner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062405:Motivational Interviewing; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013019:South Africa; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult