Substance Use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Among Youth-Serving Clinicians

Importance: Despite decreasing substance use by adolescents in recent years, overdose rates continue to rise. Morbidity and mortality from substance use is preventable if detected; however, screening practices among youth-serving clinicians are unknown. Objective: To describe youth-serving clinicians' screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment practices for substance use disorders (SUDs) among adolescents. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used DocStyles data from September 5 to October 12, 2023, on clinical practice settings in the US. Responding clinicians included family physicians, internal medicine physicians, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Exposure: Delivery of services to youths aged 17 years or younger. Main Outcomes and Measures: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment practices, including screening frequency and type of screening tool used, and screening at every well visit using a screening tool were assessed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Of 1047 youth-serving clinicians (mean [SD] age, 45.3 [11.4] years; 555 male [53.0%]), 467 (44.6%) were family physicians, 250 (23.9%) were pediatricians, 132 (12.6%) were internal medicine physicians, 107 (10.2%) were nurse practitioners, and 91 (8.7%) were physician assistants (survey response rate, 57%). Median years in practice was 13 (IQR, 7-23 years). Most clinicians (634 [60.6%]) reported that skills in SUD diagnosis were relevant to their practice, and 800 (76.4%) reported seeing at least 1 adolescent with an SUD monthly. A majority of clinicians (596 [56.9%]) reported screening for SUDs at every well visit, with a high proportion of pediatricians reporting screening at every well visit (173 of 250 [69.2%]). Clinicians who screened at every well visit were more likely to use a screening tool (odds ratio, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.44-2.44]). Only 411 clinicians (39.3%) reported screening at every well visit using a screening tool; 321 clinicians (30.7%) offered all components of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment practice. Clinicians who reported seeing 5 or more adolescents with an SUD per month had a higher odds of screening with a standardized tool at every annual well visit (adjusted odds ratio, 2.19 [95% CI, 1.30-3.71]). Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that while most clinicians report screening youths for SUDs at least sometimes, a substantial proportion screened only intermittently. Efforts to improve screening rates through education and systems-based practice changes may facilitate offering anticipatory guidance and SUD treatment in all youth-serving clinical settings.