Drug and alcohol dependence
-
Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2009
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyScreening, brief interventions, referral to treatment (SBIRT) for illicit drug and alcohol use at multiple healthcare sites: comparison at intake and 6 months later.
Alcohol screening and brief interventions in medical settings can significantly reduce alcohol use. Corresponding data for illicit drug use is sparse. A Federally funded screening, brief interventions, referral to treatment (SBIRT) service program, the largest of its kind to date, was initiated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in a wide variety of medical settings. We compared illicit drug use at intake and 6 months after drug screening and interventions were administered. ⋯ SBIRT was feasible to implement and the self-reported patient status at 6 months indicated significant improvements over baseline, for illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use, with functional domains improved, across a range of health care settings and a range of patients.
-
Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2009
Neurobiological substrates of cue-elicited craving and anhedonia in recently abstinent opioid-dependent males.
Drug-related stimuli may induce craving in addicted patients, prompting drug-seeking behaviour. In addition, studies have shown addicted patients to be less sensitive to pleasant, but non-drug-related, stimuli; a condition generally referred to as anhedonia. The neural correlates of cue-induced craving and anhedonia in opioid-dependent patients are, however, not well understood. We studied brain activation patterns following visual presentation of neutral, pleasant and heroin-related cues. ⋯ Our findings suggest that the VTA is prominently involved in cue-induced opioid craving for heroin stimuli, in addition to mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways as identified in previous research. The present study also provides further evidence for the involvement of the STN in reward processing. Finally, our data support the presence of reduced brain activation in heroin-dependent patients in response to pleasant (non-drug-related) stimuli.
-
Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyPredictors of outcome for short-term medically supervised opioid withdrawal during a randomized, multicenter trial of buprenorphine-naloxone and clonidine in the NIDA clinical trials network drug and alcohol dependence.
Few studies in community settings have evaluated predictors, mediators, and moderators of treatment success for medically supervised opioid withdrawal treatment. This report presents new findings about these factors from a study of 344 opioid-dependent men and women prospectively randomized to either buprenorphine-naloxone or clonidine in an open-label 13-day medically supervised withdrawal study. Subjects were either inpatient or outpatient in community treatment settings; however not randomized by treatment setting. ⋯ Tobacco use was associated with worse opioid treatment outcomes. Severe baseline anxiety symptoms doubled treatment success. Medication type (buprenorphine-naloxone) was the most important predictor of positive outcome; however the paper also considers other clinical and policy implications of other results, including that inpatient setting predicted better outcomes and moderated medication outcomes.
-
Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2009
Concurrent anxiety and substance use disorders among outpatients with major depression: clinical features and effect on treatment outcome.
Depressed patients often present with comorbid anxiety and/or substance use disorder. This report compares the four groups defined by the disorders (anxiety disorder, substance use disorder, both, and neither) in terms of baseline clinical and sociodemographic features, and in terms of outcomes following treatment with citalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). ⋯ Comorbid anxiety and/or substance use disorder are clinically identifiable, and their presence may define distinct MDD subgroups that have more problems and worse pharmacological treatment outcomes. They may benefit from more aggressive, multi-faceted treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation targeted at reducing their psychological comorbidity and functional impairment.
-
Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2009
Comparative StudyCorrelates of extramedical use of OxyContin versus other analgesic opioids among the US general population.
There has been substantial public and media attention regarding extramedical use of OxyContin, but few studies focus on the characteristics of extramedical OxyContin users and whether they differ from extramedical other opioid users. ⋯ Our findings point out differences between OxyContin and other opioid users that might help prevention specialists and assist efforts to curb opioid analgesics diversion.