Substance abuse : official publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse
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Background: Accurate prevalence estimates are critical to epidemiological research but discordant responses on self-report surveys can lead to over- or underestimation of drug use. We sought to examine the extent and nature of underreported cannabis use (among those later reporting blunt use) from a national drug survey in the US. Methods: We used data from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 281,650), a nationally representative probability sample of non-institutionalized populations in the US. ⋯ Although corrected prevalence, cannabis use recoded as use only increased from 15.2% (95% CI: 15.0-15.4) to 15.5% (95% CI: 15.3-15.7), individuals who are aged ≥50 (aOR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.06-3.08), female (aOR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.12-1.62), Non-Hispanic Black (aOR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.16-1.76), or report lower English proficiency (aOR = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.40-7.83) are at increased odds for providing such a discordant response. Individuals with a college degree (aOR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.39-0.84) and those reporting past-year use of tobacco (aOR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.62-0.91), alcohol (aOR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.33-0.54), cocaine (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.34-0.73), or LSD (aOR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.31-0.87) were at lower odds of providing a discordant response. Conclusion: Although changes in prevalence are small when correcting for discordant responses, results provide insight into subgroups that may be more likely to underreport use on surveys.
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Syringe services programs (SSPs) complement substance use disorder treatment in providing services that improve the health of people who use drugs (PWUD). Buprenorphine treatment is an effective underutilized opioid use disorder treatment. Regulations allow buprenorphine prescribing from office-based settings, potentially including SSPs although few studies have examined this approach. ⋯ Conclusion: Overall, participants expressed enthusiasm for onsite buprenorphine treatment at SSPs. Research on SSP-based buprenorphine treatment should investigate standard buprenorphine treatment outcomes but also any effects on the program itself and medication diversion. Implementation should consider cultural and environmental aspects of the SSP and consult program staff and participants.
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The novel coronavirus has thrown large sections of our healthcare system into disarray, with providers overburdened by record breaking number of hospitalizations and deaths. The U. ⋯ This commentary draws attention to substance use and opioid access during the ongoing crisis, given the potential for breakdowns in treatment access for addiction, the growing concern of mental health comorbidities, and the lack of access for those who require opioids for adequate pain management. Further, the commentary will offer policy and practice recommendations that may be implemented to provide more equitable distribution of care.
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Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (M-OUD) is underutilized, despite research demonstrating its effectiveness in treating opioid use disorder (OUD). The UNC Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes for Rural Primary Care Medication Assisted Treatment (UNC ECHO for MAT) project was designed to evaluate interventions for reducing barriers to delivery of M-OUD by rural primary care providers in North Carolina. A key element was tele-conferenced sessions based on the University of New Mexico Project ECHO model, comprised of case discussions and didactic presentations using a "hub and spoke" model, with expert team members at the hub site and community-based providers participating from their offices (i.e., spoke sites). ⋯ Providers who had participated in ECHO sessions valued the expertise on the expert team; the team's ability to develop a supportive, collegial environment; and the value of a community of providers interested in learning from each other, particularly through case discussions. Conclusions: Despite the perceived value of ECHO, barriers may prevent consistent participation. Also, barriers to M-OUD delivery remain, including some that ECHO alone cannot address, such as Medicaid and private-insurer policies and availability of psychosocial resources.
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Background: We sought to understand the association between heavy alcohol and frequent drug use and non-adherence to recommended social distancing and personal hygiene guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19 early in the US pandemic. Methods: A survey was offered on the crowdsourcing platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) during April 2020 (the early days of strict, social distancing restrictions). The study included 1,521 adults ages 18 years and older who resided in the US and were enrolled as MTurk workers, i.e., workers who are qualified by Amazon to complete a range of human interaction tasks, including surveys through the MTurk worker platform. ⋯ Additionally, three control variables, age, gender, and race/ethnicity, were significant correlates of adherence to these measures. Conclusions: The findings here are consistent with previous research exploring links between substance use and other adverse health behaviors. Further, the negative association between heavy drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) and adherence underscore the public health risks entailed with the unrestricted reopening of public drinking establishments.