USPSTF: Evidence Lacking for Tools to Lower Teen Drug Use

(HealthDay News) – There is currently insufficient evidence to weigh the balance of benefits and harms of primary care-based behavioral interventions to prevent or reduce illicit drug use among children, according to a draft Recommendation Statement issued Oct. 1 by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

Researchers from the USPSTF reviewed the literature to examine the effect of primary care interventions to help adolescents remain abstinent, and to help adolescents who are using drugs to reduce or stop their use. The review related to illicit drug and non-medical pharmaceutical use, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, but did not focus on adolescents who have been diagnosed with drug abuse or dependence and required treatment.

The researchers found that the evidence was insufficient to recommend for or against primary care behavioral interventions to prevent or reduce drug misuse. The draft Recommendation Statement is available for comment from Sept. 30–Oct. 28, 2013.

“Because of the importance of keeping kids healthy and safe, the Task Force calls on the research community to continue to search for ways to prevent and reduce illicit drug and non-medical pharmaceutical use in kids and teens,” Task Force member Adelita Gonzales Cantu, PhD, RN, said in a statement.

Draft Recommendation Statement
Comment on Recommendations