Supplementary Material for: GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS IN ADDICTION MEDICINE

Introduction A minority of addiction patients receive appropriate treatment directly from trained professionals in addiction medicine. Most countries have not recognized addiction medicine as a speciality in its own right or within psychiatry/other specialities. Therefore, the effectiveness and organization of addiction medicine training around the world need to be improved. Unfortunately, standard instruments are rarely used in most studies to assess training needs. This study aimed to determine international competencies in addiction medicine (AM) among professionals in as many countries as possible using a standard instrument such as the AM Training Needs Assessment (AM-TNA). Method We examined competencies in addiction medicine with the AM-TNA using an online survey. A General Competency Level in Addiction Medicine (GLOCIAM30) was calculated by dividing the total score by the number of 30 items. This GLOCIAM30 was used to measure the general level of competency in addiction medicine and to compare individual competencies. Results One hundred ninety-nine respondents from 45 countries completed the survey. Ninety-five of the 199 respondents (49.0%) had a GLOCIAM30 higher or equal to 4 (fairly competent). The highest skill level was found for the competency "Assessing substance use problems by taking the patient's history.” Nine of the 45 countries had 8 or more respondents (n=129). After post hoc analysis, there was no difference between these countries. Respondents could reasonably estimate whether the competency level in their country was higher or lower than the world average. Conclusions This study is the first international attempt to examine competencies in addiction medicine. Although a much larger study population is needed to establish an overall goal for competencies in addiction medicine, our study provided an initial direction for such a gold standard in benchmarking procedures.