Evaluation of a Pediatric Resident Skills-Based Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Curriculum for Substance Use

Abstract Purpose To evaluate a screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment curriculum for alcohol and other substance use developed, implemented and integrated into a pediatric residency program. Methods During a 1-month adolescent medicine rotation, pediatric, and medicine/pediatric residents in an urban teaching hospital completed a 2 1/2-hour formal curriculum including a didactic lecture, a 40-minute video describing the Brief Negotiation Interview (BNI), and a skill-based session practicing the BNI and receiving individualized feedback. Access to a website with didactic material was provided. Outcome measures were pre- and post-training knowledge, BNI performance measured with a standardized patient using a validated BNI adherence scale, satisfaction with training, and adoption of BNI into clinical practice. Results Of the 106 residents trained, 92(87%) completed both pre- and post-test evaluations. Significant improvements were found in pre- versus post-test scores of knowledge, (20.0 [2.4 SD] vs. 24.1 [3.5 SD], p Conclusions A screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment curriculum was successfully integrated into an adolescent medicine elective in a pediatric residency program. Residents demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge and skills performing the BNI, with high satisfaction and adoption of the BNI into clinical practice.