Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Prof Colin Drummond
ORCID ID
Contact details
Section of Alcohol Research
National Addiction Centre
PO48
Division of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry
Institute of Psychiatry
King's College London
4 Windsor Walk
London
SE5 8BB
United Kingdom
-
colin.drummond@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
A cluster randomised controlled trial of alcohol screening and brief interventions in probation services
Acronym
SIPS-CJS
Study hypothesis
1. To conduct a pragmatic multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial of screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinkers in a probation setting in three English regions
2. To compare the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a Client Information Leaflet (CIL) with simple structured advice conducted by offender managers (Tier 1) and referral to an alcohol health worker for brief lifestyle counselling (Tier 2) in clients with hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption identified by universal screening
3. To assess the relative impact of the three intervention strategies on alcohol screening and brief intervention activity in a probation setting
4. To identify the attitudinal, practical, skill, resource, and reinforcing factors that predict successful implementation of screening and brief intervention in probation
5. To identify the optimal method of alcohol screening in probation
6. To assess the relative impact of the three intervention strategies on uptake of alcohol services, including an alcohol helpline
Ethics approval
Northern & Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee (ref: 08/H0903/2 21/02/2008)
Study design
Cluster randomised controlled trial.
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Not specified
Trial type
Not Specified
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Hazardous alcohol use
Intervention
1. Control condition: Offender managers will be trained to carry out screening and give all clients screened positive for hazardous or harmful alcohol use a Client Information Leaflet (CIL). Training will be carried out by experienced trainers for criminal justice staff in seminars and individual training as appropriate to the probation setting. Trainers will be specialist staff from local alcohol agencies or an alcohol health worker.
2. Simple structured advice condition: Offender managers allocated to this condition will be trained to carry out screening and deliver up to 5 min structured brief advice for hazardous and harmful drinkers presenting to their setting, using the Drink-Less brief intervention materials (level 1). Clients in this condition will also receive a CIL as above. Training will be carried out by experienced trainers for criminal justice staff in seminars and individual training as appropriate to the criminal justice setting. Trainers will be specialist staff from local alcohol agencies or an alcohol health worker. Each probation site will have an allocated coordinator who will champion screening and brief intervention and provide ongoing support and supervision for other staff.
3. Alcohol Health Worker (AHW) condition: All clients that screened positive by offender managers for hazardous/harmful drinking will be given a CIL and a 5 min structured brief advice as above, and referred to an AHW for a longer intervention. The AHW will be experienced in carrying out alcohol assessment and brief interventions. The AHW will carry out a brief lifestyle counselling intervention lasting for 15-20 minutes. The AHW will also be responsible for training and supporting probation staff in implementing screening and referral over the course of the project.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Specified
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test at 6 and 12 months
Secondary outcome measures
The following will be assessed at 6 and 12 months:
1. Health related quality of life, EuroQol (EQ-5D)
2. Alcohol problems questionnaire
3. Service utilisation
4. Staff attitudinal measures
Overall trial start date
01/04/2008
Overall trial end date
31/03/2009
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Probation client scoring positive on either the Fast Alcohol Screen Test (FAST) or the Single Alcohol Screening Questionnaire (M-SASQ)
2. Alert and orientated
3. Aged 18 or over
4. Resident in England
5. Able to speak, read and write in English sufficiently well to complete study questionnaires
6. Not intoxicated
7. Not suffering with a serious mental health problem
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
435
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Already in contact with specialist alcohol services
2. Already included in the study or other alcohol research studies
3. Those requesting tertiary specialist help with alcohol problems
All excluded clients will be given information on where to obtain help for alcohol problems, and will receive a health information leaflet with the Drinkline number and website address.
Recruitment start date
01/04/2008
Recruitment end date
31/03/2009
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Section of Alcohol Research
London
SE5 8BB
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry (UK)
Sponsor details
National Addiction Centre
PO48
Division of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry
4 Windsor Walk
London
SE5 8BB
United Kingdom
-
paolo.deluca@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
This trial is funded by the UK Department of Health as part of the government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (2004) (UK)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
1. 2009 protocol in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19922618
2. 2012 results in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480131
Publication citations
-
Protocol
Newbury-Birch D, Bland M, Cassidy P, Coulton S, Deluca P, Drummond C, Gilvarry E, Godfrey C, Heather N, Kaner E, Myles J, Oyefeso A, Parrott S, Perryman K, Phillips T, Shenker D, Shepherd J, Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use in probation services: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol., BMC Public Health, 2009, 9, 418, doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-418.