Evaluating the evidence of effectiveness for preventive interventions: Using a registry system to influence policy through science

In order to deal with the serious problems of drug use, delinquency, and me ntal health problems in this country, policy makers, communities, practitio ners, and advocates need to identify prevention programs that have empirica l support and at the same time meet their own community needs regarding acc eptability, cost, and training, and supervision. An "evidence-based" approa ch to prevention, one that identifies the scientific knowledge about what p revention programs work, for whom, and under what circumstances. should pla y a critical part in this process. The premise of this evidence-based appro ach is that the wide adoption of prevention programs that have been found t o be successful in rigorous evaluations, will lead to successful population -based prevention strategies. A web-based registry, or database that descri bes the available scientific information on individual preventive trials, w ould be of high potential use to policy makers engaged in prevention planni ng for their communities. This presentation describes a model registry base d on descriptions of 167 preventive trials aimed at children aged 0-6. Empi rical findings are presented regarding two critical components of the regis try, the measurement of the quality of the trial and the strength of eviden ce for a beneficial effect produced by each intervention. Implications for the use of such a registry are also discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Lt d.