opioid Archives - Page 2 of 2

The Authors’ Own Words: Demystifying buprenorphine misuse: Has fear of diversion gotten in the way of addressing the opioid crisis?

Nov 15, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Demystifying buprenorphine misuse: Has fear of diversion gotten in the way of addressing the opioid crisis?

Molly Doernberg BA; Noa Krawczyk BA; Deborah Agus JD; & Michael Fingerhood MD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 2, 2019

“Buprenorphine is proven to be a safe and highly effective medication treatment for opioid disorder, yet a misguided perception that it is prone to diversion results in increased stigma and an overly restrictive regulatory climate. The limitations placed on access to treatment can have dangerous and even fatal consequences. This manuscript reviews literature showing that illicit buprenorphine is often used for self-treatment among persons who are not accessing formal care and argues that we should work to make it more accessible, especially among criminal justice populations that are often denied any medication treatment. It is intended that this manuscript will encourage clinicians, treatment programs, funding agencies, and criminal justice bodies to focus on lowering barriers to legal buprenorphine and to improving quality of care, thus reducing the burden of overdose death in our communities.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Socioeconomic and Geographical Disparities in Prescription and Illicit Opioid Related Overdose Deaths in Orange County, California from 2010-2014

Nov 11, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Socioeconomic and Geographical Disparities in Prescription and Illicit Opioid Related Overdose Deaths in Orange County, California from 2010-2014

John R. Marshall, MD, MPH; Stephen F. Gassner, BA; Craig L. Anderson, PhD; Richelle J. Cooper, MD, MSHS; Shahram Lotfipour; MD, MPH; Bharath Chakravarthy, MD, MPH

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“Successfully combating the opioid epidemic requires a thorough understanding of the socioeconomic factors of the population targeted. This ecologic study within Orange County, California aims to establish the prevalence of opioid related overdose deaths and estimate associations with socioeconomic indicators. Recent literature found that despite down-trending death rates due to prescription opioids, overall opioid death rates have been increasing largely due to the increase in heroin use. Similar results were found in this study as well as an alarming need to address the heroin problem amongst homeless population as well as other issues such as polysubstance co-ingestion, opioid abuse in older persons, and opioid abuse in lower socioeconomic status areas. Opioid abuse is a disease that does not recognize geographic boundaries fully treat this epidemic will require expanding interventions both geographically and socioeconomically.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Development and evaluation of a standardized research definition for opioid overdose outcomes

Nov 10, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Development and evaluation of a standardized research definition for opioid overdose outcomes

Ingrid A. Binswanger, MD, MPH, MS; Komal J. Narwaney, PhD; Edward M. Gardner, MD; Barbara A. Gabella, MSPH; Susan L. Calcaterra, MD, MPH; Jason M. Glanz, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“There is little consensus on how to verify opioid overdose outcomes for research purposes. To ensure reproducibility, minimize misclassification, and permit data harmonization across studies, standardized and consistent overdose definitions are needed. Thus, Binswanger and colleagues developed and evaluated a case criteria classification scheme for pharmaceutical opioid and heroin overdoses in two distinct health systems, using information commonly available in electronic health records. This scheme was compared with clinician impression and encounter documentation. This novel case criteria classification scheme for opioid overdose represents a potential option for a consistent and reproducible definition of overdose in multi-site research.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Factors Associated with Contingency Management Adoption among Opioid Treatment Providers Receiving a Comprehensive Implementation Strategy

Nov 10, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Factors Associated with Contingency Management Adoption among Opioid Treatment Providers Receiving a Comprehensive Implementation Strategy

Sara J. Becker, PhD; Lourah M. Kelly, MA; Augustine W. Kang, MSc; Katherine I. Escobar, BA; Daniel D. Squires, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“Opioid-use disorder (OUD)-related overdoses and deaths have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, creating an urgent need to implement effective OUD treatments in community settings. The current study examined factors associated with successful implementation of an evidence-based behavioral treatment (contingency management) among OUD treatment providers who received a comprehensive implementation strategy called the Science to Service Laboratory. Providers who were younger, Non-Hispanic White, did not have specialty addiction licensure, and who perceived fewer patient-level barriers to adoption all had lower levels of CM adoption frequency. Findings have the potential to change practice by highlighting a need to refine implementation strategies for younger, more educated, and more diverse treatment providers, as well as a need to explicitly address patient-level barriers to implementation.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Amount of naloxone used to reverse opioid overdoses outside of medical practice in a city with increasing illicitly manufactured fentanyl in illicit drug supply

Nov 9, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Amount of naloxone used to reverse opioid overdoses outside of medical practice in a city with increasing illicitly manufactured fentanyl in illicit drug supply

Alice Bell, LCSW; Alex S. Bennett, PhD; T. Stephen Jones, MD; Maya Doe-Simkins, MPH; Leslie D. Williams, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“Even though illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMF) is more potent than heroin and is a rapidly increasing contributor to drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County, the average dose of naloxone administered has not changed. Our findings are noteworthy because they differ from studies in different areas (MA, for example) also experiencing increasing IMF role in overdose deaths. What’s more, (uncorroborated) media reports about extreme potency of IMF and risks of workplace exposure abound and contribute an element of panic to the topic of opioid overdose and IMF. Our findings have two implications for practice: 1) reassurance that community overdose prevention programs’ naloxone rescue kits are effective in the context of IMF and 2) confirmation that additional investigations are needed to clarify the amount of naloxone necessary in IMF-involved overdoses.“