Sex-specific Outcomes in a Substance Use Intervention Program.

Purpose: We performed an emergency department (ED)-based substance use screening, motivational interview-based intervention, and treatment referral program with the goal of determining sex-specific outcomes. Specifically, in this quality improvement project, we aimed to determine whether there was a difference among sexes in the type of substances used; the frequency of positive screening results for substance use disorder; agreeing to an intervention; the type of follow-up evaluation, participation, and referral; and attempts to change substance use after intervention.

Methods: We prospectively studied a convenience sample of patients at 3 hospitals in Northeastern Pennsylvania from May 2017 through February 2018.