Substance use and substance use disorder, in relation to COVID-19: protocol for a scoping review

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is creating severe issues for healthcare and broad social structures, exposing
societal vulnerabilities. Among the populations affected by COVID-19 are people engaged in substance use, such as
people who smoke; vape (e-cigarette use); use opioids, cannabis, alcohol, or psychoactive prescription drugs; or
have a substance use disorder (SUD). Monitoring substance use and SUD during the pandemic is essential, as
people who engage in substance use or present with SUD are at greater risk for COVID-19, and the economic and
social changes resulting from the pandemic may aggravate SUD. There have been several reviews focused on
COVID-19 in relation to substance use and SUD. Reviews generally did not consider on a large range of substance
use variants or SUDs. We plan a scoping review that seeks to fill gaps in our current understanding of substance
use and SUD, in the COVID-19 era.
Methods: A scoping review focused on substance use and SUD, in relation to COVID-19, will be conducted. We will
search (from January 2020 onwards) Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Africa-Wide
Information, Web of Science Core Collection, Embase, Global Health, WHO Global Literature on Coronavirus Disease
Database, WHO Global Index Medicus, PsycINFO, PubMed, Middle Eastern Central Asian Studies, CINAHL Complete,
and Sociological Abstracts. Grey literature will be identified using Disaster Lit, Google Scholar, HSRProj,
governmental websites, and clinical trials registries (e.g., ClinicalTrial.gov, World Health Organization, International
Clinical Trials Registry Platform and International Standard Randomized Con-trolled Trial Number registry). Study
selection will conform to Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual 2015 Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews.
Only English language, original studies investigating substance use and SUD, in relation to COVID-19 in all
populations and settings, will be considered for inclusion. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, fulltext articles, and abstract data. A narrative summary of findings will be conducted. Data analysis will involve
quantitative (e.g., frequencies) and qualitative (e.g., content and thematic analysis) methods.
Discussion: Original research is urgently needed to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 on substance use and SUD. The
planned scoping review will help to address this gap.