Medical marijuana access and prolonged opioid use among adolescents and young adults.

Background And Objectives: Laws liberalizing access to medical marijuana are associated with reduced opioid analgesic use among adults, but little is known about the impact of such policies on adolescents and young adults.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used 2005 to 2014 claims from MarketScan® Commercial database, which covers all 50 states and Washington D.C.

The Implementation of the Tennessee Fetal Assault Law and Its Association With Out-of-State Births Among Residents of Tennessee.

Introduction: This study analyzed the association between the implementation of the Tennessee Fetal Assault Law (TFAL), which allowed prosecutors to incarcerate people who used substances during pregnancy, and out-of-state births among residents of Tennessee.

Methods: The main data source is vital records on singleton births in hospitals to people aged 15-44 years during the period January 2010 to June 2016. We include data from 33 states and the District of Columbia where birth certificate data are comparable over this time period.

Impact of a multipronged approach to reduce the incidence of Clostridioides difficile infections in hospitalized patients.

Background: Effective approaches to reduce Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) in hospitalized patients are needed. We report data from 3 years preceding and 3 years following interventions that proved successful, with detailed analysis of all cases the first year after implementation.

Methods: Interventions included a nursing protocol to identify cases present on admission by asking if the patient had 1 or more liquid stools in the last 24 hours, and a 2-step testing algorithm with samples positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the C.

Spatial and temporal trends in the diagnosis of opioid-related problems in commercially-insured adolescents and young adults.

Little is known about the extent to which the prevalence of opioid-related problems (ORPs) varies among U.S. adolescents and young adults across geographic regions and over time, information that can help to guide policies that aim to curb the opioid epidemic.

Trends in personal and family member opioid prescriptions prior to a diagnosis of an opioid-related problem among adolescents and young adults.

Efforts to reduce the risk of opioid misuse are often focused on reducing unnecessary prescriptions for opioid medications or reducing the dose prescribed; however, not all misuse occurs in individuals with a personal prescription. This study examined trends in the proportion of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who had an opioid-related problem (ORP) and who also had a personal opioid prescription drug claim or had a family member with an opioid prescription drug claim prior to the ORP diagnosis. A retrospective cohort design was used to analyze longitudinal claims data.

An economic examination of private insurance claims among adolescents and young adults who were enrolled in hospice during the last year of life.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to generate baseline data on the health characteristics, health care utilization, and health care spending among privately insured adolescents and young adults (AYA), who were enrolled in hospice care during their last year of life.

Methods: A retrospective, nonexperimental design was used to collect and analyze longitudinal claims data from the Truven Health MarketScan™ database. The sample included AYA (aged 15-24 years) who utilized hospice during their last year of life.

Children Enrolled in Hospice Care Under Commercial Insurance: A Comparison of Different Age Groups.

Background:: Although most children at end of life have commercial insurance, little is known about their demographic and clinical characteristics, what care they are receiving, and how much it costs.

Objectives:: To describe commercially insured children who enrolled in hospice care during their last year of life and to examine differences across age-groups.

Methods:: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using 2005 to 2014 data from the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database from Truven Health Analytics.

Depression in Parents of Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Claims-Based Analysis.

Previous studies showing that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children can have secondary effects on the child's parents are limited by small sample sizes and parent self-report. We examined the odds of depression in parents of children with ASD compared to parents of children without ASD using a large national claims database. Mothers (OR 2.