The following is a summary of ‘Treatment of harmful gambling: a scoping review of United Kingdom-based intervention research,” published in the May 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Seel et al.

Understanding and addressing gambling harm is a growing challenge in psychiatry and public health. Treating gambling issues may involve therapy, medication, and peer support.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to explore UK-based gambling treatment research. They examined study characteristics, settings, designs, and outcomes and identified research gaps. 

They reviewed articles from PsychInfo, PsycArticles, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science for UK-based gambling treatment studies. Studies were included if they evaluated interventions for harmful gambling, reported standardized outcomes on adherence, symptoms, or behaviors, were conducted in the UK, and published since 2000. 

The results showed that eight studies meeting the criteria were included. These studies included four retrospective chart reviews, two single-participant case reports, one retrospective case series, and one cross-sectional study. No experimental designs were used. 

Investigators concluded that the review’s small pool of studies points to a lack of gambling treatment research in UK settings. They suggest further investigation to uncover any barriers to conducting such research in the UK.

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05843-8