Citation

López-Pelayo H, Caballeria E, Gual A, Matrai S, Schaub MP. Front. Digit. Health 2023; 5: e1123942.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fdgth.2023.1123942

PMID

36815172

PMCID

PMC9939890

Abstract

Approximately 269 million people used drugs at least once last year, and 36 million have a substance use disorder worldwide (1). Alcohol is responsible for three million deaths every year, and 13.5% of deaths in young people (20-39-year-olds) are attributable to alcohol (2). Over one billion people use tobacco, a substance that is the cause of death for eight million people every year (3). Between 0.1% and 6% of the world's population have a gambling disorder (4). Brief interventions (BI) are effective and cost-effective in reducing alcohol and other drug use (5). Nevertheless, the implementation of brief interventions is still scarce in clinical practice (5). Given the increasing coverage of smartphones, wearables, and other connected devices worldwide, digital health solutions have the potential to scale up the delivery of brief interventions and overcome the main barriers to their implementation (e.g., the risk of upsetting the patient, privacy and confidentiality concerns, access to rural areas, and vulnerable populations).

The implementation of BIs has long been a relevant concern. In 2014, digitally-driven modalities were proposed to contribute to overcoming barriers to the large-scale and sustained implementation of BIs for alcohol and other drug use...

This Research Topic aims to advance the development of digital solutions to improve the efficacy and facilitate the implementation of brief interventions in the areas of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, prescribed or illicit drug use, and gambling. "Digital solutions" refers to electronic and communication technologies used to support, complement, or substitute face-to-face BIs (either the online BI alone or a mixed intervention)...

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol; cannabis; drugs; tobacco; brief intervention (BI); digital health; gambling