NIH Releases Clinician’s Guide for Screening Underage Drinkers

Based on just two questions from a newly released guide, health care professionals could spot children and teenagers at risk for alcohol-related problems. “Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner's Guide,” is now available from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, clinical researchers, and health practitioners, the guide introduces a two-question screening tool and an innovative youth alcohol risk estimator to help clinicians overcome time constraints and other common barriers to youth alcohol screening.

"We know that alcohol is by far the drug of choice among youth," NIAAA acting director Kenneth R. Warren, said. "Underage drinking is also a marker for other unhealthy behaviors and it often goes undetected. This new tool was designed to allow busy practitioners who manage the health and well-being of children and adolescents to conduct fast, effective alcohol screens and brief interventions."

Research has shown that over the course of adolescence, the proportion of youth who have had more than just a few sips of alcohol increases dramatically, from 7 percent of 12-year-olds to nearly 70 percent of 18-year-olds. Binge drinking is dangerous and common, and increases with age. Underage drinking is associated with many adverse outcomes, ranging from immediate consequences such as academic and social problems, injuries, and death, to longer-term consequences including increased risk for alcohol dependence as well as potentially enduring functional and structural changes in the brain.

To develop the shortest possible screening tool with the strongest evidence for predicting current and future alcohol problems in youth, NIAAA convened a working group of researchers to conduct extensive analyses of underage drinking data. Their analyses indicated that just two questions, one that asks about friends' drinking, and another that asks about personal drinking frequency, had the greatest predictive power. Examples of these questions, which vary slightly for elementary, middle, and high school ages, include:

• Friends' drinking: "Do you have any friends who drank beer, wine, or any drink containing alcohol in the past year?"

• Personal drinking: "How about you--in the past year, on how many days have you had more than a few sips of beer, wine, or any drink containing alcohol?"

The friends' drinking question is an early warning signal that strongly predicts future drinking levels, while the personal drinking question is the best predictor of current risk for alcohol-related harm in adolescents who are already drinking. These questions can be asked quickly, an extremely important factor for clinicians and their patients.

In addition to the new two-question screen, the guide presents the first youth alcohol risk estimator chart, which combines information about a patient's age and drinking frequency to give a clinician a broad indication of the patient's chances for having alcohol-related problems. Coupled with what a clinician already knows about a patient, the risk estimator can help determine the depth and content of the clinician's response. The guide outlines different levels of intervention, with tips for topics to cover. It also presents an overview of brief motivational interviewing, an interactive, youth-friendly intervention that is considered to have the best potential effectiveness for the adolescent population.

“Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner's Guide,” and its accompanying pocket-sized version, can be downloaded or ordered from the NIAAA website. It can also be ordered from NIAAA by calling 301-443-3860.

FRN Launches Smart Disposal Campaign in Region

Moundsville W.Va - The Marshall County Family Resource Network (FRN) has launched a campaign to promote the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Oct. 29. The Safe Storage. Smart Disposal campaign is launching in 16 counties throughout the region as part of the United in Prevention Project. The focus of the effort is to get commonly abused prescription drugs out of circulation.

The campaign focuses on safe and responsible ways to store and dispose of prescription drugs. It also highlights the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Oct. 29 from 10am – 2pm. On this day, the community can take any expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs to local collection sites for disposal. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Marshall County has four collection sites including the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Moundsville Police Department, WV State Police Detachment, and the Cameron Volunteer Fire Department.

“Many people do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – this can have harmful effects to our water supply and pose a public safety issue. The Safe Storage. Smart Disposal Campaign encourages participation in the Prescription Drug Take-Back Day and highlights responsible ways to store and dispose of prescription drugs at home,” said Jon Lewis, drug free communities coordinator at the FRN.

More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.

“Many people are unaware that the medicines in their home cabinets are highly susceptible to theft and misuse. Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing problem for our youth, and take-back events like this one are an indispensable tool for reducing the circulation of these commonly abused drugs,” said Lewis.

For more information on prescription drug abuse, the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, or The Safe Storage. Smart Disposal. Campaign, please visit United in Prevention’s website at www.unitedinprevention.com.

The FRN’s United in Prevention Project includes 16 counties: Brooke, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler, Wetzel, Wirt, and Wood Counties. This effort is the first of its kind to mobilize these counties in a unified force working for substance abuse prevention programs and practices. United in Prevention is funded by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.

The Marshall County FRN is a non-profit organization that is helping to make Marshall County a better place to live and work. For more information on the FRN or United in Prevention, please contact the Marshall County FRN at (304) 845-3300 or visit www.marshallcountyfrn.com.

Marshall County Anti-Drug Coalition Dedicates Rx Return to Moundsville Police Department

Moundsville, WV – The Marshall County Anti-Drug Coalition (MCADC) dedicated a permanent prescription drug drop off box, named “Rx Return,” to the Moundsville Police Department on Thursday, October 13. The MCADC and the Moundsville Police Department have partnered to provide the community with a safe and responsible way to return unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs for disposal.

The misuse of prescription medications that are intended for treating many health conditions has become the leading cause of prescription drug abuse—making prescription pain reliever medications one of the leading abused substances nationwide, second only to marijuana. “We are working together to combat this problem. We have a common goal and that is to educate the community on ways to properly dispose of prescription drugs,” said Moundsville Police Chief, Tom Mitchell. “We appreciate the coalition working with us and purchasing the Rx Return for the community.”

Prescription drug abuse has skyrocketed in recent years, affecting people of all ages and demographics. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), treatment admissions for prescription drug abuse had increased by 400% within the past decade, and hospital emergency department visits related to prescription drug misuse rose by 111% in four years. More than half of Americans who abuse prescription drugs received the medications from a friend or family member.

“Unfortunately, these abused medications are quite often easily obtained from the medicine cabinet,” said Jon Lewis, MCADC Coordinator. According to the Partnership for a Drug-free America, many teens believe prescription drugs are a safe way to get high; teens who wouldn't otherwise touch illicit drugs are abusing prescription drugs. “As adults, parents, and caregivers, we need to be mindful of this harmful trend. It is important that we keep track of our medications both location and quantity and dispose of these medications when they are no longer needed,” said Lewis.

The Rx Return is located at the Moundsville Police Department at 608 Tomlinson Ave., Moundsville. Items that are acceptable to return are prescription and over-the-counter medications. Certain items cannot be accepted in the Rx Return, including; needles, aerosol cans, and leaking liquid containers. The Rx Return is open to anyone in the community, no questions asked.

The MCADC is part of the United in Prevention Project, led by the Marshall County FRN and funded by the Substance Abuse Prevention Services and Treatment (SAPT) Grant. United in Prevention is a sixteen county initiative to reduce substance abuse in each community.

The MCADC is a non-profit organization working to make Marshall County a safe and drug-free community. For more information on substance abuse prevention or the MCADC, please contact (304) 845-3300 or visit www.marshallcountyfrn.com.

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CDC Report Shows about 112 Million Annual Incidents of People Drinking and Driving

Adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010—that is almost 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving each day—according to a CDC Vital Signs study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The four million adults who drink and drive each year put everyone on the road at risk,” CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden said in a news release. “In fact, nearly 11,000 people are killed every year in crashes that involve an alcohol–impaired driver.”

For the study, CDC analyzed data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey.

The study also found that:

• Men were responsible for 81 percent of drinking and driving in 2010.

• Young men, ages 21–34, made up only 11 percent of the U.S. population in 2010, yet were responsible for 32 percent of all episodes of drinking and driving.

• Eighty–five percent of drinking and driving episodes were reported by people who also reported binge drinking. Binge drinking means five or more drinks for men or four or more drinks for women during a short period of time. Linda C. Degutis, director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, recommended the following coalition strategies to prevent alcohol–impaired driving:

• Sobriety checkpoints: At sobriety checkpoints drivers are stopped to assess their level of alcohol impairment. According to the Transportation Research Board, more widespread, frequent use of these checkpoints could save about 1,500 to 3,000 lives on the road each year.

• Minimum legal drinking age laws: These laws prohibit selling alcohol to people under age 21 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Keeping 21 as the minimum legal drinking age helps keep young, inexperienced drivers from drinking and driving.

• Ignition interlocks: These devices prevent drivers who were convicted of alcohol–impaired driving from operating their vehicles if they have been drinking. Interlocks are effective in reducing re–arrest rates from drinking and driving by about two–thirds while the device is on the vehicle.

A policy issue brief, "Policy Impact: Alcohol–Impaired Driving," features more information on state policies to prevent alcohol–impaired driving. For a copy of this data brief, visitwww.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/alcoholbrief.