Washington State Substance Use Outcomes: Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs Declined Among Emergency Department Patients who Received Brief Interventions for Substance Use Disorders through WASBIRT

The Washington State Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (WASBIRT) Program was implemented in nine hospital emergency departments to screen patients for alcohol and drug use, to provide brief interventions to those with substance use disorders, and to refer patients with more serious disorders to brief therapy or more traditional forms of chemical dependency (CD) treatment. Out of 15,291 patients who received at least a brief intervention, 2,648 were randomly selected for follow-up telephone interviews six months after the intervention. Of those selected, 2,057 completed the survey—a 78 percent response rate. Analyses were based on 1,943 patients with complete information on alcohol use items and 1,939 patients with complete information on drug use items.