Perceived barriers to implementing screening and brief intervention for alcohol consumption by adolescents in hospital emergency department in Spain.

BACKGROUND Screening for alcohol consumption in adolescents is widely justified in the health care field because of the particular vulnerability of this population, which starts drinking alcohol at a very early age and frequently consumes high levels of the same. Hospital emergency departments (ED) could be a good venue to manage early detection and carry out brief intervention (BI) programmes. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to identify perceived barriers for medical staff of three hospitals in Spain to successfully implement a protocol for alcohol detection and BI for minors in the ED. METHODS Exploratory qualitative analysis using focus groups with semi-structured, flexible and open-ended questions to explore beliefs, attitudes, and barriers perceived by professionals to screening alcohol consumption and implementing BI in adolescents attended at the ED. RESULTS The main perceived barriers by health professionals were lack of time, work overload, mistrust, lack of validated and simple screening tools, lack of training/awareness and legal concerns about informed consent and confidentiality. CONCLUSIONS Barriers to screening and intervention in ED are similar to those described previously. It is necessary to improve organization of time allocated for medical consultations, avoid limiting ED resources, motivate staff and provide appropriate training.