Abstract
Adverse health consequences of adolescents' risk behaviour account for significant rates of morbidity and mortality in this age category. Preventing serious consequences of substance-related risk behaviour is a challenge for society as a whole.
To engage adolescents in effective and methodologically appropriate conversations about these sensitive issues is a task for relevant primary care medical professionals - i.e. general paediatricians. We have developed a manual for individual counselling concerning substance use.
The main screening assessment tool is the prevention-oriented CRAFFT questionnaire, intended for use by paediatricians. In this article, we would like to describe the role of general paediatricians in relation to screening and brief interventions applied to adolescents, as well as summarising evidence on the effectiveness of this method.
In the Czech Republic, its effectiveness was demonstrated by two studies, the results of which are outlined below. Physicians' obligation to provide brief interventions for substance use is embedded in Czech law.
The use of the CRAFFT questionnaire and the procedures described in the above-mentioned manual appear to be an effective and desirable way of complying with this requirement.