Effectiveness of strategies for reducing risky alcohol consumption among youth living in rural or remote areas: a systematic review protocol

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies for reducing risky alcohol consumption among youth living in rural and remote areas. INTRODUCTION: Youth living in rural and remote areas are more likely to drink alcohol and are at higher risk of experiencing alcohol-related harm than youth living in urban locations. However, a review has not yet been conducted evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for reducing young people's risky alcohol consumption in rural and remote locations. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This systematic review will consider papers that include youth (aged 12 to 24 years) who are identified as living in rural, remote, regional, non-urban or non-metropolitan locations. Any intervention or strategy with the purpose of reducing or preventing alcohol consumption or alcohol-related harms among this population will be considered. The primary outcome is frequency of short-term risky alcohol consumption, as measured by self-reported incidents of drinking five or more standard drinks. Secondary outcomes will also be included. METHODS: Sources of published studies, unpublished studies and gray literature will be searched. Only studies in English published from 1999 will be included. Titles and abstracts of all search results will be screened. The full text of potentially relevant studies will then be assessed in detail. Studies will be stratified by methodological quality. The data extracted will include specific details about the populations, study methods, interventions and outcomes. Studies will be pooled in statistical meta-analysis, where possible, and where statistical pooling is not possible, the findings will be presented in narrative form.