Rarity and limited geographical coverage of individual level alcohol interventions in sub Saharan Africa: findings from a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Introduction: A previous review on brief alcohol interventions in sub-Sahara Africa showed most of the interventions were implemented in East and Southern Africa. We carried a scoping review to assess the current amount and types of alcohol interventions in SSA.

Methods: We searched six databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, Africa-wide, CINAHL and PsycINFO) for publications prior to June 2018. We used the search terms for alcohol use, alcohol intervention and African countries’ names. We identified 59 papers on alcohol interventions of which 26 were eligible for inclusion in the final analysis.

Results: Of the 26 eligible papers, 18(69 %) were carried out in South Africa. Majority 15(58%) of the interventions were randomized clinical trial, followed by seven (27%) quasi-experimental and evaluation of the intervention and five (19%) cluster randomized trials. Most of the studies targeted patients and pregnant women. Only a few studies focused on sex workers and students.

Conclusions: Our findings show that the assessment of effectiveness of individual level alcohol interventions is rare in SSA. In addition, these interventions were polarized in two countries. There is an urgent need for an evidence base on the effectiveness of alcohol interventions commensurate with the scope of the problem in SSA.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol use
• interventions
• review
• Africa

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to experts and investigators who responded to our email messages and the questionnaire posted in the online platforms.

Availability of data and material

This is the review article, we have shared the search strategy.

Author’s contributions

JMF, SC developed the study design, with contributions from MHS and NKM. JMF and SC carried out the systematic searching of the article’s citations. JMF reviewed the articles citation. In addition, JMF, SC and MHS worked on a data collection tools for contacting alcohol investigators and experts. JMF and NKM performed data analysis, with contributions from MHS and SC. All authors took part in the interpretation of the data. JMF, SC, MHS and NKM drafted the article, and all authors provided critical revisions of the article for important intellectual content.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Authors have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This project did not receive any funding.