The Economic Burden of Chronic Psychotic Disorders in Ontario.

Background: Chronic psychotic disorders are severe and disabling mental disorders associated with poor psychiatric and medical outcomes. These disorders are considered one of the most costly mental disorders due young age at onset and the need for intensive health care over the life course.

Aims Of The Study: The purpose of this study was to estimate the direct health care costs of chronic psychotic disorders in Ontario in 2012 from the perspective of the third-party payer (i.

High levels of opioid analgesic co-prescription among methadone maintenance treatment clients in British Columbia, Canada: results from a population-level retrospective cohort study.

Background And Objectives: The non-medical use of prescription opioids (PO) has increased dramatically in North America. Special consideration for PO prescription is required for individuals in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Our objective is to describe the prevalence and correlates of PO use among British Columbia (BC) MMT clients from 1996 to 2007.

Binary regression: total gain in positive and negative predictive values.

Models that predict disease incidence or disease recurrence are attractive for clinicians as well as for patients. The usefulness of a risk prediction model is linked to the two questions whether the observed outcome is confirmed by the prediction and whether the risk prediction is accurate in predicting the future outcome, respectively. The first phrasing of the question is linked to considering sensitivity and specificity and the latter to the positive and negative predictive values.

Cost of disorders of the brain in Europe 2010.

Background: The spectrum of disorders of the brain is large, covering hundreds of disorders that are listed in either the mental or neurological disorder chapters of the established international diagnostic classification systems. These disorders have a high prevalence as well as short- and long-term impairments and disabilities. Therefore they are an emotional, financial and social burden to the patients, their families and their social network.

Trajectory classes of decline in health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease: a pilot study.

Objective: To analyze the change in health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to identify different classes of HRQoL decline.

Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was performed to assess clinical parameters (unified PD rating scale, Beck Depression Inventory) and HRQoL data (EuroQol, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire [PDQ]-39) at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. A total of 145 patients with PD were consecutively recruited in the county of Northern Hessia, Germany, between January and June 2000.

Use of cigarettes to improve affect and depressive symptoms in a longitudinal study of adolescents.

Smoking to alleviate negative affect or improve physiological functioning (i.e., self-medication) is one explanation for the association between depression and smoking in adolescents.

Modelling lifetime QALYs and health care costs from different drinking patterns over time: a Markov model.

The negative health consequences of alcohol use and its treatment account for significant health care expenditure worldwide. Long-term modelling techniques are developed in this paper to establish a link between drinking patterns, health consequences and alcohol treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. The overall change in health related quality and quantity of life which results from changes in health-related behaviour is estimated.

Nonmedical use of prescription opioids: furthering a meaningful research agenda.

Unlabelled: The nonmedical use of prescription opioids (POs), and related harmful consequences, has increased in many populations in recent years in North America. Existing survey data are typically limited to descriptive prevalence statistics, and fail to examine important determinants or circumstances (including motives) of nonmedical PO use. We advocate that such analytical queries should become integral elements in future surveys.

Injection drug use, multiple hepatitis virus infections, and migration: a German study.

This article examines infection with viral hepatitis A, B, and C and socioethnic factors in a population of injection drug users seeking treatment. The study was conducted between 2001 and 2003 in a rural German hospital; selected sociodemographic and drug-related data as well as a serology for hepatitis A, B, and C were obtained from 1499 patients. Statistical analyses were performed by univariate analysis of variance and post hoc Scheffé tests or with the chi(2) test and Bonferroni adjustment.

Multiple viral hepatitis in injection drug users and associated risk factors.

Background: While infections due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been well-studied in injection drug users (IDUs), hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection and coinfection with multiple hepatitis viruses have received less attention.

Methods: Hepatitis serology as well as sociodemographic and drug-related parameters were explored in patients (n = 1512) admitted for opiate detoxification.

Results: Antibodies to HAV were positive in 57.

Treatment for hepatitis C virus and cannabis use in illicit drug user patients: implications and questions.

Illicit drug users are the primary risk group for HCV transmission, and will form the largest HCV treatment population for years to come. Sylvestre et al.'s study suggests that cannabis use may benefit treatment retention and outcomes in illicit drug users undergoing HCV treatment.

Cocaine use in Europe - a multi-centre study. Methodology and prevalence estimates.

An increase in the use of cocaine and crack in several parts of Europe has raised the question whether this trend is similar to that of the USA in the 1980s. However, research in the field of cocaine use in Europe has been only sporadic. Therefore, a European multi-centre and multi-modal project was designed to study specific aspects of cocaine and crack use in Europe, in order to develop guidelines for public health strategies.