Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.

The increasing prevalence and magnitude of harmful effects of substance use disorders (SUDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) make it imperative to embrace interventions which are acceptable, feasible, and effective in reducing this burden. Globally, the use of telehealth interventions is...

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Main Authors: Margaret Isioma Ojeahere, Sarah Kanana Kiburi, Paul Agbo, Rakesh Kumar, Florence Jaguga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-11-01
Series:PLOS Digital Health
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000125&type=printable
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author Margaret Isioma Ojeahere
Sarah Kanana Kiburi
Paul Agbo
Rakesh Kumar
Florence Jaguga
author_facet Margaret Isioma Ojeahere
Sarah Kanana Kiburi
Paul Agbo
Rakesh Kumar
Florence Jaguga
author_sort Margaret Isioma Ojeahere
collection DOAJ
description The increasing prevalence and magnitude of harmful effects of substance use disorders (SUDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) make it imperative to embrace interventions which are acceptable, feasible, and effective in reducing this burden. Globally, the use of telehealth interventions is increasingly being explored as possible effective approaches in the management of SUDs. Using a scoping review of literature, this article summarizes and evaluates evidence for the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of telehealth interventions for SUDs in LMICs. Searches were conducted in five bibliographic databases: PubMed, Psych INFO, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Professionals and the Cochrane database of systematic review. Studies from LMICs which described a telehealth modality, identified at least one psychoactive substance use among participants, and methods that either compared outcomes using pre- and post-intervention data, treatment versus comparison groups, post-intervention data, behavioral or health outcome, and outcome of either acceptability, feasibility, and/or effectiveness were included. Data is presented in a narrative summary using charts, graphs, and tables. The search produced 39 articles across 14 countries which fulfilled our eligibility criteria over a period of 10 years (2010 to 2020). Research on this topic increased remarkably in the latter five years with the highest number of studies in 2019. The identified studies were heterogeneous in their methods and various telecommunication modalities were used to evaluate substance use disorder, with cigarette smoking as the most assessed. Most studies used quantitative methods. The highest number of included studies were from China and Brazil, and only two studies from Africa assessed telehealth interventions for SUDs. There has been an increasingly significant body of literature which evaluates telehealth interventions for SUDs in LMICs. Overall, telehealth interventions showed promising acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness for SUDs. This article identifies gaps and strengths and suggests directions for future research.
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spelling doaj-art-e6f903a265b84f79b5bddba0421df4c72025-02-05T05:33:38ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLOS Digital Health2767-31702022-11-01111e000012510.1371/journal.pdig.0000125Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.Margaret Isioma OjeahereSarah Kanana KiburiPaul AgboRakesh KumarFlorence JagugaThe increasing prevalence and magnitude of harmful effects of substance use disorders (SUDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) make it imperative to embrace interventions which are acceptable, feasible, and effective in reducing this burden. Globally, the use of telehealth interventions is increasingly being explored as possible effective approaches in the management of SUDs. Using a scoping review of literature, this article summarizes and evaluates evidence for the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of telehealth interventions for SUDs in LMICs. Searches were conducted in five bibliographic databases: PubMed, Psych INFO, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Professionals and the Cochrane database of systematic review. Studies from LMICs which described a telehealth modality, identified at least one psychoactive substance use among participants, and methods that either compared outcomes using pre- and post-intervention data, treatment versus comparison groups, post-intervention data, behavioral or health outcome, and outcome of either acceptability, feasibility, and/or effectiveness were included. Data is presented in a narrative summary using charts, graphs, and tables. The search produced 39 articles across 14 countries which fulfilled our eligibility criteria over a period of 10 years (2010 to 2020). Research on this topic increased remarkably in the latter five years with the highest number of studies in 2019. The identified studies were heterogeneous in their methods and various telecommunication modalities were used to evaluate substance use disorder, with cigarette smoking as the most assessed. Most studies used quantitative methods. The highest number of included studies were from China and Brazil, and only two studies from Africa assessed telehealth interventions for SUDs. There has been an increasingly significant body of literature which evaluates telehealth interventions for SUDs in LMICs. Overall, telehealth interventions showed promising acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness for SUDs. This article identifies gaps and strengths and suggests directions for future research.https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000125&type=printable
spellingShingle Margaret Isioma Ojeahere
Sarah Kanana Kiburi
Paul Agbo
Rakesh Kumar
Florence Jaguga
Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
PLOS Digital Health
title Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
title_full Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
title_fullStr Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
title_full_unstemmed Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
title_short Telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low- and- middle income countries: A scoping review.
title_sort telehealth interventions for substance use disorders in low and middle income countries a scoping review
url https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000125&type=printable
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