Home > The effectiveness of interventions related to the use of illicit drugs: prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. A ‘review of reviews’.

Bates, Geoff and Jones, Lisa and Cochrane, Madeleine and Pendlebury, Marissa and Sumnall, Harry (2017) The effectiveness of interventions related to the use of illicit drugs: prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. A ‘review of reviews’. Dublin: Health Research Board. HRB Drug and Alcohol Evidence Review 5.

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This review examines the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions in the areas of harm reduction, prevention, treatment and long-term recovery related to illicit drug misuse and dependence. The primary research questions for this review were:

  • Which interventions are effective for reducing the initiation, or continued use, of illicit drugs and related harmful behaviours amongst children and young people aged up to 25 years?
  • Which interventions are effective for reducing harmful behaviours related to illicit substance use?
  • Which interventions are effective at treating substance misuse amongst people who misuse or who are dependent upon illicit drugs?
  • What interventions are effective at supporting people who misuse illicit drugs to fully recover from their substance misuse and become better reintegrated into the community following/alongside treatment?

Evidence was identified through a ‘review of reviews’ approach. High quality systematic reviews published since 2010 were identified through a comprehensive search of relevant electronic databases, and screened for relevance against pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of relevant reviews was determined using quality check tool in the Joanna Briggs Institute methods manual for undertaking umbrella reviews (JBI, 2014). Lower quality reviews and reviews published prior to 2010 were included where evidence was missing on key interventions.

In total, 97 review articles were identified to answer the primary research questions and were split across three reviews under the headings of prevention (13 reviews), harm reduction (24 reviews) and treatment and recovery (62 reviews), with two reviews covering both harm reduction and treatment interventions. Outcomes relating to the review research questions were summarised in outcomes tables of evidence. The quality of the evidence was determined using a GRADE approach and rated ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’ dependent on the quality and extent of primary studies and the consistency of the direction of findings.

Item Type
Report
Publication Type
Irish-related, International, Guideline, Report, Review
Drug Type
Substances (not alcohol/tobacco), Cannabis, CNS depressants / Sedatives, CNS stimulants, Cocaine, Inhalents and solvents, Opioid, New psychoactive substance, Prescription/Over the counter
Intervention Type
General / Comprehensive, Drug therapy, Treatment method, Alternative medical treatment, Prevention, Harm reduction, Education and training, Psychosocial treatment method, Rehabilitation/Recovery, Screening / Assessment
Date
July 2017
Identification #
HRB Drug and Alcohol Evidence Review 5
Call No
HRB library
Pages
200 p.
Publisher
Health Research Board
Place of Publication
Dublin
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB 5336 (Available), HRB 5337 (Available)
Subjects
A Substance use and dependence > Prevalence > Problem substance use
A Substance use and dependence > Personal history of substance use (pathway) > Recovery
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Alternative medical treatment method
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Psychosocial treatment method
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Treatment outcome
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Harm reduction > Substance use harm reduction
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Prevention outcome
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Substance use prevention > Universal prevention
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Substance use prevention > Targeted prevention
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Prevention by setting > School based prevention
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Prevention by setting > Community-based prevention
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Prevention approach
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Patient / client care management
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Treatment and maintenance > Treatment factors
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health care programme, service or facility > Community-based treatment (primary care)
T Demographic characteristics > Adolescent / youth (teenager / young person)
T Demographic characteristics > Doctor
T Demographic characteristics > Prevention / youth worker
VA Geographic area > International

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