Abstract:
The increasing prevalence and magnitude of harmful effects of substance use disorders
(SUDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) make it imperative to embrace inter-
ventions which are acceptable, feasible, and effective in reducing this burden. Globally, the
use of telehealth interventions is increasingly being explored as possible effective
approaches in the management of SUDs. Using a scoping review of literature, this article
summarizes and evaluates evidence for the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of
telehealth interventions for SUDs in LMICs. Searches were conducted in five bibliographic
databases: PubMed, Psych INFO, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied
Professionals and the Cochrane database of systematic review. Studies from LMICs which
described a telehealth modality, identified at least one psychoactive substance use among
participants, and methods that either compared outcomes using pre- and post-intervention
data, treatment versus comparison groups, post-intervention data, behavioral or health out-
come, and outcome of either acceptability, feasibility, and/or effectiveness were included.
Data is presented in a narrative summary using charts, graphs, and tables. The search pro-
duced 39 articles across 14 countries which fulfilled our eligibility criteria over a period of 10
years (2010 to 2020). Research on this topic increased remarkably in the latter five years
with the highest number of studies in 2019. The identified studies were heterogeneous in
their methods and various telecommunication modalities were used to evaluate substance
use disorder, with cigarette smoking as the most assessed. Most studies used quantitative
methods. The highest number of included studies were from China and Brazil, and only two
studies from Africa assessed telehealth interventions for SUDs. There has been an increas-
ingly significant body of literature which evaluates telehealth interventions for SUDs in
LMICs. Overall, telehealth interventions showed promising acceptability, feasibility, and
effectiveness for SUDs. This article identifies gaps and strengths and suggests directions
for future research.