LAUSR

AIMS The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the government school-based programme #Tamojunto2.0, the third Brazilian version of the European drug prevention programme, Unplugged, in preventing the use of alcohol and other drugs. DESIGN A parallel, two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 205 classes in 73 public schools (37 intervention and 36 control) with a baseline assessment and follow-up after 9 months. SETTING Schools in the city of São Paulo, Fortaleza, and Eusebio in Brazil. PARTICIPANTS 5,208 students in the 8th grade with a mean age of 13.2 years (SD 0.8 years) and an equal gender ratio. INTERVENTION In 2019, the intervention group attended 12 classes of the programme, #Tamojunto2.0, under the supervision of a team from the Ministry of Health. The control group did not receive any intervention to prevent alcohol and drug use. MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome measured was prevalence of binge drinking (5 or more doses of alcohol in an occasion) within the past month. Secondary outcomes were prevalence of initiation and use of alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana and cocaine within the past month. FINDINGS A statistically significant difference was not found in prevalence of binge drinking within the past month between intervention and control groups (odds ratio (OR)=0.934; 95% CI 0.761-1.146). However, students who were exposed to the programme were less likely to initiate alcohol use than those in the control group (OR = 0.782; 95% CI 0.636-0.961). The Bayes factor for reduction in binge drinking was 0.01, providing evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS The drug prevention programme #Tamojunto2.0 appeared not to reduce past month binge drinking among 8th grade students in Brazil. However, the programme reduced alcohol initiation.