Funding: NIAAA R01 AA018119
Project PI: Cheryl J. Cherpitel, DrPH; Robert Woolard, MD
The aims of this project are to: 1) examine the effectiveness of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) among Mexican-origin young adults (age 18-25), using a motivational intervention delivered by a Health Promotion Advocate, relative to standard care with and without assessment, on a reduction in heavy drinking (drinking days per week, number of drinks per day, maximum number of drinks on an occasion) and alcohol-related problems (RAPS4 and SIPS +6) in the emergency department (ED) at the U.S.-Mexico border; and, 2) identify variables that are related to effectiveness of the intervention and that predict successful treatment outcome. We plan to translate motivational interventions that have been successful in primary care and which were recently implemented in the U.S. 14 Academic Emergency Medicine Collaborative (AEMC) SBIRT study to a population of young adult Mexican-origin ED patients on the Texas border in El Paso; a population which has evidenced a high prevalence of hazardous drinking and alcohol-related problems, in part due to the greater availability of alcohol and at low cost in Mexico border cities. We will conduct a blinded randomized control brief motivational intervention trial in which both injured and non-injured patients will be screened for at-risk or dependent (using the RAPS4) drinking. The work to be undertaken in this project is especially important in determining the effectiveness of AEMC SBIRT protocols (which may serve as a prototype for screening, brief intervention and referral for at-risk and dependent drinking in the ED) in this context of Mexican-origin young adults.
