Addiction
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The expense associated with using non-combustible nicotine products as an alternative to smoking may deter smoking reduction or cessation. This study aimed to estimate (i) how much adults in England spend each week on smoking and alternative nicotine products and (ii) the potential cost saving that could be achieved by switching from smoking to using an alternative nicotine delivery product. ⋯ In England, expenditure among e-cigarette and nicotine replacement therapy users is approximately one-third of the expenditure of smokers. The average smoker may save an estimated £15.06 per week by switching completely to e-cigarettes or £13.04 per week by switching to nicotine replacement therapy, although this is likely to differ according to individual usage patterns.
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Opioid use disorder (OUD) remains a serious public health issue, and treating adults with OUD is a major priority in the United States. Little is known about trends in the diagnosis of OUD and in buprenorphine prescribing by physicians in office-based medical practices. We sought to characterize OUD diagnoses and buprenorphine prescribing among adults with OUD in the United States between 2006 and 2015. ⋯ In office-based medical practices in the United States, diagnoses for opioid use disorder and buprenorphine prescriptions for adults with opioid use disorder increased from 0.14 and 56.1%, respectively, in 2006-10 to 0.38 and 73.6% in 2011-15.
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To test whether fractures and osteoporosis are more prevalent among patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) than patients without OUD in Taiwan. ⋯ Taiwanese patients with opioid use disorder appear to have a higher adjusted hazard ratio for fracture than Taiwanese patients without opioid use disorder.
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Comparative Study
Prices, use restrictions and electronic cigarette use-evidence from wave 1 (2016) US data of the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.
To determine if there are associations between changes in the explicit (i.e. price) and implicit (i.e. use restrictions in public places) costs of cigarettes and nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and their use patterns in the United States. ⋯ Higher prices for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and vaping restrictions in public places are associated with less NVP use and less concurrent use of vaping and smoking. Public policies that increase prices for vaping devices and supplies (i.e. regulations, taxes) and restrict where vaping is allowed are likely to suppress vaping.
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Comparative Study
The impact of vaping and regulatory environment on cigarette demand: behavioral economic perspective across four countries.
Government regulations of nicotine vaping products (NVP) have evolved rapidly during the past decade. The impact of NVP regulatory environment and vaping on cigarette demand is unknown. The current study aims to investigate whether or not respondents' reported cigarette demand, as measured by a hypothetical cigarette purchase task, varies with (1) smoking status, (2) vaping status or (3) NVP regulatory environment (country used as proxy). ⋯ In a hypothetical purchase task, non-daily smokers showed lower price elasticity if they used e-cigarettes than if they did not, while there was no clear difference in elasticity between e-cigarette users and non-users among daily smokers or according to regulatory environment of their country with regard to e-cigarettes.