Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · May 2013
Patient characteristics and patterns of intoxication: one-time and repeated use of emergency ambulance services.
The aim of this study was to investigate the utilization of ambulance services that resulted from alcohol and drug intoxication over a period of 1 year in a metropolitan area, with an emphasis on characteristic differences between patients with one-time versus repeated use. ⋯ The ambulance-service users' generally slight impairment of consciousness and the high proportion of intoxicated patients without any injuries raise the question of how many of these patients could be adequately cared for in a sobering center. Sobering centers might relieve hospital emergency departments of patients not requiring acute emergency care and, in addition, could provide intervention services to prevent relapses.
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Mar 2013
Marijuana and tobacco co-use in young adults: patterns and thoughts about use.
We examined the frequency and intensity of tobacco use and thoughts about abstinence among young adults in the United States as a function of their use of marijuana. We hypothesized that heavier marijuana use would be associated with heavier tobacco use and fewer attempts to quit smoking, and we explored relationships between marijuana use and ratings of intentions and thoughts related to quitting tobacco. ⋯ Findings support the association between tobacco and marijuana use among young people but speak to the importance of addressing tobacco cognitions in young adult smokers regardless of level of marijuana use.
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialThe overlap of youth violence among aggressive adolescents with past-year alcohol use-A latent class analysis: aggression and victimization in peer and dating violence in an inner city emergency department sample.
The purpose of this study was to identify overlap and violence types between peer and dating aggression and victimization using latent class analysis (LCA) among a sample of aggressive adolescents with a history of alcohol use and to identify risk and protective factors associated with each violence class. ⋯ There is extensive overlap of victimization and aggression in both peer and dating relationships. Also, those with high rates of violence across relationships have increased alcohol misuse and marijuana use. Thus, violence-prevention efforts should consider addressing concomitant substance use.
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Sep 2012
Measures of substance consumption among substance users, DSM-IV abusers, and those with DSM-IV dependence disorders in a nationally representative sample.
Neither the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R), nor the DSM-IV uses measures of substance consumption as part of the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders. Therefore, this report examined the extent to which frequency and/or quantity of consumption across a broad spectrum of substances are associated with DSM-IV diagnoses of specific substance use disorders and whether there are informative hierarchical levels of consumption among users, abusers, and those who are substance dependent in the U.S. general population. ⋯ These results confirm the findings of others concerning the unidimensionality of abuse and dependence diagnoses when consumption variables alone are examined and suggest that consumption measures may be useful metrics gauging severity.
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J Stud Alcohol Drugs · Jul 2012
Alcohol use at time of injury and survival following traumatic brain injury: results from the National Trauma Data Bank.
Premised on biological evidence from animal research, recent clinical studies have, for the most part, concluded that elevated blood alcohol concentration levels are independently associated with higher survival or decreased mortality in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study aims to provide some counterevidence to this claim and to further future investigations. ⋯ The null finding shows that the purported reduction in TBI mortality attributed to positive blood alcohol likely is attributable to residual confounding. Accordingly, the risk of TBI associated with alcohol use should not be overlooked.