What is the SBIRT Screening Tool (Pre-Screen)?
The SBIRT Screening Tool (Pre-Screen) is based on the Brief Health Screen, which is used to quickly identify patients who may be at risk for substance use disorders and require further screening. This screening tool was developed by the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University as part of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) healthcare program, which seeks to provide timely and early interventions and the necessary treatment to those who may be at risk of alcohol abuse disorder and substance abuse disorder.
What is the goal of an SBIRT Screening Tool (Pre-Screen)?
This pre-screen tool is one of the many standardized screening tools of the SBIRT program. The pre-screening process rules out adult patients who are at low or no risk using pre-screening questions for alcohol and drugs. Those who screen positive on the pre-screen then receive a more comprehensive screening tool like the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) or the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10).
This tool will allow a healthcare professional to examine so they can identify risky substance use behaviors that the patient might have.
How is the tool answered, and how are the results interpreted?
This screening tool has four questions about alcohol consumption, drug use, and about their mood.
The tool isn't scored, but if a patient answers the alcohol or drug-related questions with "1 or more," they would need to receive either a full drug or alcohol screen. The patients who answer "yes" in the mood part about feeling bothered by little interest and feeling down or depressed for two weeks would be recommended to go through a full depression screen. Other SBIRT screening tools are recommended.
This can even be used as part of mental health services administration because patients might potentially be resorting to alcohol or substance use to try and cope with their mental health issues.
