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The likelihood of clinicians prescribing direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and substance use disorder (SUD) was assessed via a survey emailed throughout the United States to clinicians (physicians and advanced practice providers) in gastroenterology, hepatology, and infectious disease specialties. Clinicians' perceived barriers and preparedness and actions associated with current and future DAA prescribing practices of HCV-infected patients with SUD were assessed. Of 846 clinicians presumably receiving the survey, 96 completed and returned it. Exploratory factor analyses of perceived barriers indicated a highly reliable (Cronbach alpha = 0.89) model with five factors: HCV stigma and knowledge, prior authorization requirements, and patient- clinician-, and system-related barriers. In multivariable analyses, after controlling for covariates, patient-related barriers (P < 0.01) and prior authorization requirements (P < 0.01) were negatively associated with the likelihood of prescribing DAAs. Exploratory factor analyses of clinician preparedness and actions indicated a highly reliable (Cronbach alpha = 0.75) model with three factors: beliefs and comfort level; action; and perceived limitations. Clinician beliefs and comfort levels were negatively associated with the likelihood of prescribing DAAs (P = 0.01). Composite scores of barriers (P < 0.01) and clinician preparedness and actions (P < 0.05) were also negatively associated with the intent to prescribe DAAs. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of addressing patient-related barriers and prior authorization requirements-significant problematic barriers-and improving clinicians' beliefs (e.g., medication-assisted therapy should be prescribed before DAAs) and comfort levels for treating patients with HCV and SUD to enhance treatment access for patients with both HCV and SUD.
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Background/Aims: Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is the medical manifestation of alcohol use disorder, a prevalent psychiatric condition. Acute and chronic manifestations of ALD have risen in recent years especially in young people and ALD is now a leading indication of liver transplantation (LT) worldwide. Such alarming trends raise urgent and unanswered questions about how medical and psychiatric care can be sustainably integrated to better manage ALD patients before and after LT. Methods: Critical evaluation of the interprofessional implications of broad and multifaceted ALD pathophysiology, general principles of and barriers to interprofessional teamwork and care integration, and measures that clinicians and institutions can implement for improved and integrated ALD care. Results: The breadth of ALD pathophysiology, and its numerous medical and psychiatric comorbidities, ensures that no single medical or psychiatric discipline is adequately trained and equipped to manage the disease alone. Conclusions: Early models of feasible ALD care integration have emerged in recent years but much more work is needed to develop and study them. The future of ALD care is an integrated approach led jointly by interprofessional medical and psychiatric clinicians.
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Introduction: Substance use in Zambia is stigmatized and treatment access is limited. Over 30,000 people are homeless in Lusaka, where one-quarter of homeless youth report use. Zambia's Ministry of Health recently developed policies targeting alcohol, suggesting Chainama, the only mental health hospital, offer treatment. Together, they endorsed training in the curriculum studied in this paper. We hypothesized training Zambian professionals would improve their perceptions of substance users and treatment. We then explored if treatment using the curriculum, as delivered to clients by training participants, would encourage client motivation to change, participation in groups, and reduce substance use frequency. Methods: Part 1: One-hundred professionals were trained in a curriculum-based, literacy-free intervention employing cognitive behavioral and rational emotive behavior therapy techniques to explore 12 Steps of addiction recovery through Zambian art forms. Pre/post questionnaires captured perspectives around substance users and treatment. Part 2: Trained organizations delivered the curriculum in their communities. Twenty-five organizations rated feasibility and benefit of the curriculum. Data for 200 clients recorded pre/post motivation to change, open-sharing/participation, and frequency of substance use. Results: While training significantly modified professionals' perspectives regarding the value of offering treatment, their views of substance users did not change. Clients endorsed increases in "motivation to change" and "participation/open-sharing." Frequency of alcohol, marijuana, inhalant, and cigarette use significantly decreased. Conclusion: Training in the curriculum helped address a public health need, playing a role in increased motivational variables and decreased substance use. Research addressing this study's limitations is encouraged. Video abstract: For a video summary of this paper, please visit https://youtu.be/uDZTVxtzF1Y.
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Background: Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) have high hospital admission rates. Hospitalists, clinicians that work in inpatient medical settings, may have a unique opportunity to intervene on behalf of these patients, yet their experience with and attitudes towards treating patients with OUD need further exploration. Methods: We conducted qualitative analysis of 22 semi-structured interviews with hospitalists between January and April 2021 in Philadelphia, PA. Participants were hospitalists in one major metropolitan university hospital and one urban community hospital in a city with a high prevalence of OUD and overdose deaths. Participants were asked about their experiences, successes, and difficulties in treating hospitalized patients with OUD. Results: Twenty-two hospitalists were interviewed. Participants were majority female (14, 64%) and White (16, 73%). We identified the following common themes: lack of training/experience with OUD, a lack of community OUD treatment infrastructure, a lack of inpatient OUD/withdrawal treatment resources, the "X-waiver" as a barrier to prescribing buprenorphine, the "ideal" patient to start on buprenorphine, and the hospital as an ideal intervention setting. Conclusions: Hospitalization due to acute illness or complication of drug use represents a potential intervention point to initiate treatment for patients with OUD. While hospitalists exhibit willingness to prescribe medications, provide harm reduction education, and link patients to outpatient addiction treatment, they identify training and infrastructure barriers that must first be addressed.
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Background: People with a maternal substance use disorder (SUD) may experience a lack of access to necessary healthcare and more specifically, postpartum healthcare. It is not known whether increased insurance coverage introduced by Medicaid expansion has improved postpartum healthcare utilization among this population. Methods: Oregon 2008-2016 birth certificates and Medicaid claims were used to examine whether continuous insurance enrollment and postpartum healthcare utilization increased post-Medicaid expansion in a population with and without SUD (n = 9,337). International Classification of Diseases codes were used to identify deliveries, SUD, and postpartum healthcare. Univariable and multivariable generalized linear regression with standard errors clustered by individual were used to estimate the association between Medicaid expansion and postpartum healthcare utilization, stratified by maternal SUD. Results: Among the 10.3% with SUD, expansion was not associated with increased continuous enrollment or postpartum healthcare utilization. Among those without SUD, post-expansion deliveries were associated with increased continuous enrollment (+105.0 days; 95% CI=96.9-113.2), total (+4.4; 95% CI=2.9-6.0), postpartum (+0.3; 95% CI=0.2-0.4), inpatient (+0.9; 95% CI=0.7-1.1), outpatient (+2.3; 95% CI=1.4-3.3), office (+0.9; 95% CI=0.2-1.6), and emergency department (+0.3; 95% CI=0.1-0.5) visits. Among deliveries to postpartum people with SUD, 27.2% had opioid use disorder (OUD); expansion was associated with increased OUD medication use (12.0% vs 18.3%) and number of fills (6.7 vs 16.6). Conclusions: Medicaid expansion in Oregon was only associated with increased Medicaid-financed healthcare utilization for postpartum people without SUD, with the exception of those with OUD, demonstrating the need for assessing various strategies to improve postpartum healthcare utilization.
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Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have long-term effects on adult health, including unresolved trauma and substance use disorder (SUD). There are hypotheses of a mediating role of emotion regulation. This systematic literature review and narrative synthesis assessed the effectiveness of psychological interventions on emotion regulation, PTSD and SUD symptoms. Methods: Searches were conducted using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews methodology. Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental psychological interventions published between 2009 and 2019. Study characteristics, results and methodological quality were systematically analysed. Results: Thirteen studies, including nine RCTs, were selected. Integrated SUD and PTSD treatments consisted of Seeking Safety, exposure-based treatment, Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model, and integrated cognitive behavioural therapy. Two studies reported emotion regulation. Five studies found a small to medium positive effect size of psychological interventions on PTSD outcomes. Two studies had a small positive effect size on SUD outcomes and two a small negative effect size. Attrition was high across most studies. Characteristics likely to affect the applicability of the review were described. Conclusion: The review found some evidence of a small inconsistent positive effect of psychological interventions on PTSD outcomes, and no evidence of effect on SUD outcomes. The range of theoretical models was narrow. Overall quality was low with high clinical heterogeneity and missing key information, particularly on emotion regulation, an important transdiagnostic feature. Further research is required to establish interventions that can treat these multiple conditions with a focus on effectiveness, acceptability, and implementation in real life clinical practice.
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INTRODUCTION: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is characterized by a problematic pattern of opioid use leading to clinically-significant impairment or distress. Opioid agonist treatment is an integral component of OUD management, and buprenorphine is often utilized in OUD management due to strong clinical evidence for efficacy. However, interindividual genetic differences in buprenorphine metabolism may result in variable treatment response, leaving some patients undertreated and at increased risk for relapse. Clinical pharmacogenomics studies the effect that inherited genetic variations have on drug response. Our objective is to demonstrate the impact of pharmacogenetic testing on OUD management outcomes. METHODS: We analyzed a patient who reported discomfort at daily buprenorphine dose of 24 mg, which was a mandated daily maximum by the pharmacy benefits manager. Regular urine screenings were conducted to detect the presence of unauthorized substances, and pharmacogenetic testing was used to determine the appropriate dose of buprenorphine for OUD management. RESULTS: At the 24 mg buprenorphine daily dose, the patient had multiple relapses with unauthorized substances. Pharmacogenetic testing revealed that the patient exhibited a cytochrome P450 3A4 ultrarapid metabolizer phenotype, which necessitated a higher than recommended daily dose of buprenorphine (32 mg) for adequate OUD management. The patient exhibited a reduction in the number of relapses on the pharmacogenetic-based dose recommendation compared to standard dosing. CONCLUSION: Pharmacogenomic testing as clinical decision support helped to individualize OUD management. Collaboration by key stakeholders is essential to establishing pharmacogenetic testing as standard of care in OUD management.
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INTRODUCTION: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common comorbid disorder in patients suffering from substance use disorder (SUD). Individuals with co-occurring SUD and ADHD are more likely than SUD patients without ADHD to have developed SUD at a younger age, be polysubstance users, and need inpatient treatment more often. The present study investigates whether individuals with polysubstance use disorder who remain abstinent for a year after entering treatment have a more substantial reduction in ADHD symptoms than those who relapsed and controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Subjects were SUD patients (N = 115) and healthy controls (N = 34). ADHD symptoms were assessed using the adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). Substance use was assessed by self-reports on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT). Participants were defined as having relapsed if they had an AUDIT score ≥ 8 or a DUDIT score ≥ 2 for women and ≥ 6 for men. RESULTS: Patients who remained abstinent for one year reported a substantial reduction of ADHD symptoms compared to patients who relapsed and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Abstinence alleviates ADHD symptoms among patients with polysubstance use disorder. We suggest that confirmation of an ADHD diagnosis should follow a period of abstinence to avoid identification of false-positive cases.