The leading role of evidence-based practices in the treatment of patients with substance use disorders: a systematic review

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the effectiveness of motivational interviewing, motivational enhancement therapy, and cognitive behaviour therapy for patients with substance use disorders, and to estimate the effect of such comparison in patient care setting.

Method: The systematic review was conducted from September 2021 to February 2022, and comprised search on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Clinical Trials.gov and OvidSP databases for experimental studies and randomised controlled trials related to substance use disorders published in peer-reviewed English-language journals between 2001 and 2021. Quality of the studies was assessed using the Modified Cochrane Collaboration risk of the bias assessment criteria.

Results: Of the 314 studies initially identified, 41(13%) were subjected to full-text assessment, and, of them, 16(39%) were reviewed and analysed. There were 8(50%) studies done is the United States, 4(25%) in the United Kingdom, and 1(6.25%) each in Germany, Australia, South Korea and South Africa. All the 16(100%) studies were intervention-based, with 6(37.5%) being randomised controlled trials. There were 8(50%) studies using motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy, 5(31.25%) had significant results with a combination of motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy, 3(18.75%) supported motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy in combination, and 2(12.5%) studies combined motivational interviewing, motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy, reporting significant results while simultaneously addressing multiple patient variables.

Conclusion: All studies were heterogeneous. Motivational interviewing produced short-term treatment outcomes and played a supportive role in sustaining motivation.

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