Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Alexithymia and pain experience among patients using methadone-maintenance therapy.
Alexithymia, difficulty identifying and describing one's emotions coupled with a tendency to externalize, is a potentially important yet understudied treatment target for patients with opioid use disorder. The aim of this study was to examine the role of alexithymia in pain experience among individuals with opioid use disorder. ⋯ These findings suggest that alexithymia, as well as both pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance, contribute to interference associated with pain and are potentially important intervention targets among methadone-treated patients with pain.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Multicenter StudyPerceived risk, attitudes, and behavior of cigarette smokers and nicotine vapers receiving buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of COVID-19 complications, reinforcing the urgency of smoking cessation in populations with high smoking prevalence such as individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has altered perceptions, motivation to quit, or tobacco use among cigarette smokers and nicotine e-cigarette vapers with OUD is unknown. ⋯ Most patients with OUD believed that smoking and vaping increased their vulnerability to COVID-19, half reported increased interest in quitting, but others reported increasing smoking and vaping during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialRandomized trial of methadone treatment of arrestees: 24-month post-release outcomes.
We report on the 24-month post-release outcomes of arrestees with opioid use disorder (OUD) enrolled in a randomized trial comparing three treatment approaches initiated in jail. ⋯ ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02334215.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Changes in opioid prescribing after implementation of mandatory registration and proactive reports within California's prescription drug monitoring program.
In 2016, California updated its prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), adding two key features: automated proactive reports to prescribers and mandatory registration for prescribers and pharmacists. The effects of these changes on prescribing patterns have not yet been examined. We aimed to evaluate the joint effect of these two PDMP features on county-level prescribing practices in California. ⋯ California's implementation of these two PDMP features was associated with decreases in the total quantity of opioid MMEs prescribed, and indicators of patients prescribed high-dose opioids compared to states that had PDMP's without these features. Rates of opioid prescribing and other high-risk prescribing patterns remained unchanged.