Addiction
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There is conflicting evidence that use of e-cigarettes promotes cessation in regular smokers, but contrasting findings may be due to differing definitions of vaping. The aim was to assess whether regular use of e-cigarettes while smoking is associated with subsequent smoking cessation. ⋯ Among people who smoke, those also using an e-cigarette regularly are more likely to try to quit smoking and reduce their cigarette consumption during the next 6 months. It remains unclear whether regular e-cigarette users are also more likely to stop smoking.
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The full burden of the opioid epidemic on US hospitals has not been described. We aimed to estimate how heroin (HOD) and prescription opioid (POD) overdose-associated admissions, costs, outcomes and patient characteristics have changed from 2001 to 2012. ⋯ Rates and costs of heroin and prescription opioid overdose related admissions in the United States increased substantially from 2001 to 2012. The rapid and ongoing rise in both numbers of hospitalizations and their costs suggests that the burden of POD may threaten the infrastructure and finances of US hospitals.
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To examine the risk to heroin users of also using gabapentin or pregabalin (gabapentoids). ⋯ For heroin users, the combination of opioids with gabapentin or pregabalin potentially increases the risk of acute overdose death through either reversal of tolerance or an additive effect of the drugs to depress respiration.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized controlled trial of brief interventions to reduce drug use among adults in a low-income urban emergency department: the HealthiER You study.
To examine efficacy of drug brief interventions (BIs) among adults presenting to a low-income urban emergency department (ED). ⋯ An emergency department-based motivational brief intervention, delivered by a therapist and guided by computer, appears to reduce drug use among adults seeking emergency department care compared with enhanced usual care.
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To project the impact of scaling-up oral anti-viral therapy and harm reduction on chronic hepatitis C (CHC) prevalence and incidence among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Greece, to estimate the relationship between required treatment levels and expansion of harm reduction programmes to achieve specific targets and to examine whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination among PWID is possible in this high-prevalence setting. ⋯ Based on theoretical model projections, scaled-up hepatitis C virus treatment and harm reduction interventions could achieve major reductions in hepatitis C virus incidence and prevalence among people who inject drugs in Athens, Greece by 2030. Chronic hepatitis C could be eliminated in the next 4-5 years by increasing treatment to more than 16% of people who inject drugs per year combined with moderate increases in harm reduction coverage.