We often think of alcohol misuse in terms of dependence and the conditions associated with heavy drinking like liver disease and pancreatitis. But, as last year’s Chief Medical Officers’ new guidance indicated, lower levels of alcohol misuse can contribute to a wide range of conditions not so readily associated with alcohol. Is it therefore worth considering how alcohol could be affecting the health of a wider range of patients and not just heavy drinkers?
Open access. Cannabis use following the onset of first-episode psychosis has been linked to both increased risk of relapse and non-adherence with antipsychotic medication. Whether poor outcome associated with cannabis use is mediated through an adverse effect of cannabis on medication adherence is unclear.
Comment. In The Lancet Psychiatry, Schoeler and colleagues present a study1 describing the mediating effect of medication adherence on the association between continued cannabis use and relapse risk in patients with first-episode psychosis. They have previously reported a relapse rate of 36% in this patient group over a 2-year period.2 Acknowledging the potential risk of psychosis relapse related to the high proportion of patients continuing cannabis use after the onset of psychosis, the current study1 investigates the same patient group consisting of 245 patients, obtaining retrospective data on active cannabis use and medication adherence shortly after illness onset, as well as risk of relapse at 2-year follow-up. The authors find that relapse of psychosis associated with continued cannabis use is partly mediated through non-adherence to prescribed antipsychotic medication. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Evidence on the role of cannabis as a gateway drug is inconsistent. We characterise patterns of cannabis use among UK teenagers aged 13–18 years, and assess their influence on problematic substance use at age 21 years.
Open Access Article
The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association of cannabis use with the development of elevated anxiety symptoms in the general population.
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The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, mecamylamine, is a potential novel pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder. The aims were to compare alcohol consumption between mecamylamine and placebo and test if smoking status modified treatment effects. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
In Scotland, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination for all prisoners was introduced in 1999; here, we examine the impact of this programme among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the community. This study aimed to compare rates of HBV vaccine uptake before and after implementation of the prison programme and to estimate the determinants of vaccine uptake, the levels of ever/current HBV infection and the associations between vaccine uptake and ever/current HBV infection. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
According to statistics published in May by NHS Digital, there were an estimated 1.1 million hospital admissions in England where alcohol was the primary or secondary issue in 2015-16 – the highest ever recorded and up from 670,000 a decade earlier. In the UK, it is estimated that 24% of adults drink in a harmful way, while 9% of men and 4% of women show signs of alcohol dependence.
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Substance use disorders are major contributors to excess mortality among individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet associations between pharmacological ADHD treatment and substance-related problems remain unclear. This study investigated concurrent and long-term associations between ADHD medication treatment and substance-related events. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text.
Current evidence suggests the pessimism about treatment outcomes for this group of patients may be unfounded. However, there is an urgent need for more consistent and better quality reporting of outcomes in future studies in this area. To read the full article, log in using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details
Conclusions: Hazardous alcohol consumption appears to be a key factor of the dropout rate in a Web-based alcohol intervention study. Thus, it is important to develop strategies to keep participants who are at high risk in Web-based interventions.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors31.4 (Jun 2017): 385-392.
The purpose of this study was to conduct a randomized test of clinic- and home-based incentives plus parent training for adolescent problem alcohol use. Adolescents (N = 75) with alcohol misuse, with or without other substance misuse, were enrolled. All youth received individual Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavior Therapy and weekly urine drug testing. The experimental condition (EXP) included Abstinence Incentives (clinic-based incentives for abstinence from all substances) plus weekly behavioral parent training that included a parent-delivered, abstinence-based, substance monitoring contract. The comparison condition (CONTROL) included Attendance Incentives (ATTI). To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors31.4 (Jun 2017): 403-414.
Motivation is an integral factor in substance use treatment and long-term recovery. However, it is unclear what role intrinsic and extrinsic motivation play across different treatment modalities. A meta-analysis (N = 84) was performed to estimate the pooled effect size of Motivational Interviewing (MI; primarily targeting intrinsic motivation) and contingency management (CM; primarily targeting extrinsic motivation) at different follow-up periods. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors30.5(Aug 2016): 607-612.
Emphasis on the negative consequences of drug use is a critical component of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to regulate craving. Despite the relative success of CBT for treating substance use disorders, effective human laboratory models of CBT are lacking. Recent reports have indicated that the regulation of craving (ROC) task provides a valid model of craving regulation for nicotine, alcohol, and methamphetamine use. The present study examined ROC in an online sample of regular cocaine users (n = 44) recruited from Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Objectives To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating effects of exercise for people with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) across multiple health outcomes. We also investigated the prevalence and predictors of dropout from exercise studies in AUDs.
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In April 2015, the UK government enacted a temporary class drug order (TCDO) on ethylphenidate in response to reported harms associated with its use, in particular an outbreak of infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Lothian, Scotland. This study assesses the effect that the TCDO had on reducing the most common infections identified during the outbreak; Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
To examine adolescent cannabis use -- both at the national and individual level -- by deconstructing it into its necessary conditions of realistic use opportunities and willingness to use the drug given such opportunities. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai