Screening and Following Up Harmful Alcohol Use "… is Not Necessarily Your Primary Focus": A Qualitative Study Exploring Health Professionals' Experiences Addressing Harmful Alcohol Use in a Norwegian Hospital.

Introduction: Alcohol use remains a leading cause of excess mortality and morbidity worldwide, and identifying and following up harmful alcohol use represents a key component of alcohol harm reduction policies. This article explores health professionals' experiences implementing these policies in a Norwegian hospital.

Aim: To explore health professionals' views and experiences of systematic screening and tailored follow-up of harmful and hazardous alcohol use in a Norwegian hospital.

Deaths associated with MDMA in the period 2000-2019.

Background: The use of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as ecstasy, has increased in Norway in recent years. Since MDMA has the potential to be toxic and cause death, we studied whether increased availability and use correlates with the increase in MDMA-associated deaths.

Material And Method: The study includes post-mortems with findings of MDMA in blood, linked to information about cause of death from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry.

Concentrations of psychoactive substances in blood samples from non-fatal and fatal opioid overdoses.

Aim: The primary aim was to compare concentrations of psychoactive substances in blood in non-fatal and fatal opioid overdoses. The secondary aim was to assess the concentration levels of naloxone in blood in non-fatal overdoses and the association between naloxone findings and concomitantly detected drugs.

Method Design: Case-control study.

Opioid related deaths in Norway in 2000-2019.

Aims: The aim of the study is to present autopsy-based findings of the most prevalent opioids in overdose deaths in Norway from 2000 to 2019, as such data are lacking in the current literature.

Methods: Data on cause of death obtained from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry (NCoDR) were linked with forensic toxicological results from forensic autopsies.

Results: From year 2000 the annual numbers of overdose deaths decreased, specifically during 2000-2003, thereafter a relatively stable annual number was observed.

Post-mortem toxicological analyses of blood samples from 107 patients receiving opioid agonist treatment: substances detected and pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations.

Aims: To present the substances and their concentrations detected post-mortem in patients receiving opioid agonist treatment (OAT) stratified by cause of death, estimate the pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations using established conversion factors for blood concentrations from the Norwegian Road Traffic Act, and explore the association between drug-induced cause of death and the pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations.

Design: Cross-sectional nationwide study.

Setting: Norway.