Browsing by Subject "Drug Overdose"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Alcohol and drug dependence symptom items as brief screeners for substance use disorders: results from the Clinical Trials Network.
    (Journal of psychiatric research, 2012-03) Wu, Li-Tzy; Blazer, Dan G; Woody, George E; Burchett, Bruce; Yang, Chongming; Pan, Jeng-Jong; Ling, Walter
    AIM:To address an urgent need for screening of substance use problems in medical settings, we examined substance-specific dependence criteria as potential brief screeners for the detection of patients with a substance use disorder (SUD). METHODS:The sample included 920 opioid-dependent adults who were recruited from outpatient treatment settings at 11 programs in 10 U.S. cities and who completed intake assessments of SUDs for a multisite study of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN003). Data were analyzed by factor analysis, item response theory (IRT), sensitivity, and specificity procedures. RESULTS:Across all substances (alcohol, amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, sedatives), withdrawal was among the least prevalent symptoms, while taking large amounts and inability to cut down were among the most prevalent symptoms. Items closely related to the latent trait of a SUD showed good-to-high values of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in identifying cases of a SUD; IRT-defined severe and less discriminative items exhibited low sensitivity in identifying cases of a SUD (withdrawal for all substances; time using for alcohol and sedatives; giving up activities for sedatives). CONCLUSIONS:Study results suggest that withdrawal and time using are much less reliable indicators for a SUD than taking larger amounts than intended and inability to cut down and that the latter two items should be studied further for consideration in developing a simplified tool for screening patients for SUDs in medical settings. These findings have implications for the use of common health indicators in electronic health records systems to improve patient care.
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    Development and validation of an electronic health records-based opioid use disorder algorithm by expert clinical adjudication among patients with prescribed opioids.
    (Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2023-05) Ranapurwala, Shabbar I; Alam, Ishrat Z; Pence, Brian W; Carey, Timothy S; Christensen, Sean; Clark, Marshall; Chelminski, Paul R; Wu, Li-Tzy; Greenblatt, Lawrence H; Korte, Jeffrey E; Wolfson, Mark; Douglas, Heather E; Bowlby, Lynn A; Capata, Michael; Marshall, Stephen W

    Background

    In the US, over 200 lives are lost from opioid overdoses each day. Accurate and prompt diagnosis of opioid use disorders (OUD) may help prevent overdose deaths. However, international classification of disease (ICD) codes for OUD are known to underestimate prevalence, and their specificity and sensitivity are unknown. We developed and validated algorithms to identify OUD in electronic health records (EHR) and examined the validity of OUD ICD codes.

    Methods

    Through four iterations, we developed EHR-based OUD identification algorithms among patients who were prescribed opioids from 2014 to 2017. The algorithms and OUD ICD codes were validated against 169 independent "gold standard" EHR chart reviews conducted by an expert adjudication panel across four healthcare systems. After using 2014-2020 EHR for validating iteration 1, the experts were advised to use 2014-2017 EHR thereafter.

    Results

    Of the 169 EHR charts, 81 (48%) were reviewed by more than one expert and exhibited 85% expert agreement. The experts identified 54 OUD cases. The experts endorsed all 11 OUD criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5, including craving (72%), tolerance (65%), withdrawal (56%), and recurrent use in physically hazardous conditions (50%). The OUD ICD codes had 10% sensitivity and 99% specificity, underscoring large underestimation. In comparison our algorithm identified OUD with 23% sensitivity and 98% specificity.

    Conclusions and relevance

    This is the first study to estimate the validity of OUD ICD codes and develop validated EHR-based OUD identification algorithms. This work will inform future research on early intervention and prevention of OUD.
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    Impacts of an opioid overdose prevention intervention delivered subsequent to acute care.
    (Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, 2019-06) Banta-Green, Caleb J; Coffin, Phillip O; Merrill, Joseph O; Sears, Jeanne M; Dunn, Chris; Floyd, Anthony S; Whiteside, Lauren K; Yanez, Norbert D; Donovan, Dennis M

    Background

    Opioid overdose is a major and increasing cause of injury and death. There is an urgent need for interventions to reduce overdose events among high-risk persons.

    Methods

    Adults at elevated risk for opioid overdose involving heroin or pharmaceutical opioids who had been cared for in an emergency department (ED) were randomised to overdose education combined with a brief behavioural intervention and take-home naloxone or usual care. Outcomes included: (1) time to first opioid overdose-related event resulting in medical attention or death using competing risks survival analysis; and (2) ED visit and hospitalisation rates, using negative binomial regression and adjusting for time at risk.

    Results

    During the follow-up period, 24% of the 241 participants had at least one overdose event, 85% had one or more ED visits and 55% had at least one hospitalisation, with no significant differences between intervention and comparison groups. The instantaneous risk of an overdose event was not significantly lower for the intervention group (sub-HR: 0.83; 95% CI 0.49 to 1.40).

    Discussion

    These null findings may be due in part to the severity of the population in terms of housing insecurity (70% impermanently housed), drug use, unemployment and acute healthcare issues. Given the high overdose and healthcare utilisation rates, more intensive interventions, such as direct referral and provision of housing and opioid agonist treatment medications, may be necessary to have a substantial impact on opioid overdoses for this high-acuity population in acute care settings.

    Trial registration number

    NCT0178830; Results.
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    Prescription pain reliever abuse and dependence among adolescents: a nationally representative study.
    (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008-09) Wu, Li-Tzy; Ringwalt, Christopher L; Mannelli, Paolo; Patkar, Ashwin A
    We examined the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of adolescents' abuse, subthreshold dependence ("diagnostic orphans"), and dependence on prescription pain relievers (PPRs) such as opioids in a representative national sample (N = 36,992).Data were from the 2005-2006 National Surveys of Drug Use and Health. DSM-IV criteria for abuse and dependence were examined.Of all adolescents ages 12 to 17, 7% (n = 2,675) reported nonprescribed PPR use in the past year, and 1% (n = 400) met criteria for past-year PPR abuse or dependence. Among the 2,675 adolescents who reported nonprescribed PPR use, more than one in three reported symptoms of abuse or dependence: 7% abuse, 20% subthreshold dependence, and 9% dependence. Regular PPR use, major depressive episodes, and alcohol use disorders were associated with each diagnostic category. Compared with asymptomatic nonprescribed PPR users, increased odds of abuse were noted among nonstudents (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.6), users of mental health services (AOR 1.8), and those reporting poor or fair health (AOR 2.4); and increased odds of dependence were observed among females (AOR 1.6), those who were involved in selling illicit drugs (AOR 1.7), and users of multiple drugs (AOR 2.9). Subthreshold dependent users resembled dependent users in major depressive episodes (AOR 1.5), alcohol use disorders (AOR 1.8), and use of multiple drugs (AOR 1.7).Dependence on PPRs can occur without abuse, and subthreshold dependence deserves to be investigated further for consideration in major diagnostic classification systems.
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    The Emergency Department as an Opportunity for Naloxone Distribution.
    (The western journal of emergency medicine, 2018-11) Gunn, Alexander H; Smothers, Zachary PW; Schramm-Sapyta, Nicole; Freiermuth, Caroline E; MacEachern, Mark; Muzyk, Andrew J
    Introduction:Substance use disorders, including opioid use disorders, are a major public health concern in the United States. Between 2005 and 2014, the rate of opioid-related emergency department (ED) visits nearly doubled, from 89.1 per 100,000 persons in 2005 to 177.7 per 100,000 persons in 2014. Thus, the ED presents a distinctive opportunity for harm-reduction strategies such as distribution of naloxone to patients who are at risk for an opioid overdose. Methods:We conducted a systematic review of all existing literature related to naloxone distribution from the ED. We included only those articles published in peer-reviewed journals that described results relating to naloxone distribution from the ED. Results:Of the 2,286 articles we identified from the search, five met the inclusion criteria and had direct relevance to naloxone distribution from the ED setting. Across the studies, we found variation in the methods of implementation and evaluation of take-home naloxone programs in the ED. In the three studies that attempted patient follow-up, success was low, limiting the evidence for the programs' effectiveness. Overall, in the included studies there is evidence that distributing take-home naloxone from the ED has the potential for harm reduction; however, the uptake of the practice remained low. Barriers to implementation included time allocated for training hospital staff and the burden on workflow. Conclusion:This systematic review of the best evidence available supports the ED as a potential setting for naloxone distribution for overdose reversal in the community. The variability of the implementation methods across the studies highlights the need for future research to determine the most effective practices.