Objective: Addiction treatment via telehealth expanded to unprecedented levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to clarify whether the research evidence on the efficacy of telehealth-delivered substance use disorder treatment and the experience of providers using telehealth during the pandemic support continued use of telehealth after the pandemic and, if so, under what circumstances.
Methods: Data sources included a literature review on the efficacy of telehealth for substance use disorder treatment, responses to a 2020 online survey from 100 California addiction treatment providers, and interviews with 30 California treatment providers and other stakeholders.
Results: Eight published studies were identified that compared addiction treatment via telehealth with in-person treatment. Seven found telehealth treatment as effective but not more effective than in-person treatment in terms of retention, therapeutic alliance, and substance use. One Canadian study found that telehealth facilitated methadone prescribing and improved retention. In the survey results reported here, California addiction treatment providers said that more than 50% of their patients were being treated via telehealth for intensive outpatient treatment, individual counseling, group counseling, and intake assessment. They were most confident that individual counseling via telehealth was as effective as in-person individual counseling and less sure about the relative effectiveness of telehealth-delivered medication management, group counseling, and intake assessments.
Conclusions: Telehealth may help engage patients in addiction treatment by improving access and convenience. Additional research is needed to confirm that benefit and to determine how best to tailor telehealth to each patient's circumstances and with what mix of in-person and telehealth services.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202100088 | DOI Listing |
Cureus
November 2024
Medical Pharmacology, Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Faculty of Medicine, Bolu, TUR.
Background and objective Over the past decade, the use of psychostimulants typically prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as methylphenidate (MP), has become popular among undergraduate students to enhance their academic performance. Despite potential health and legal repercussions, the misuse of these medications has become a significant public health issue, not only in the general population but particularly among students in medical schools across Turkey. This study investigated the prevalence of MP misuse among Turkish medical students and the factors contributing to it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Subst Use Addict Treat
December 2024
Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; ICES, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address:
Introduction: As the drug toxicity crisis continues to evolve globally, harms related to non-opioid substances, including stimulants, have risen in parallel. Our study aims were to describe trends in accidental stimulant toxicity deaths and to characterize demographic characteristics of decedents and the circumstances surrounding death.
Methods: We conducted a population-based repeated cross-sectional study, of all accidental stimulant toxicity deaths between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021, in Ontario, Canada.
J Subst Use Addict Treat
December 2024
Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
J Subst Use Addict Treat
December 2024
Department of Health Law, Policy & Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America; Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center, Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America. Electronic address:
Introduction: There has been increasing recognition of unethical practices occurring in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, such as patient brokering and deceptive marketing. We conducted a qualitative study with key informants to characterize state actions that have been undertaken to target unethical practices and the context surrounding state-level actions, including barriers and facilitators to their implementation.
Methods: We recruited key informants at the state-level, as well as those from national organizations engaged in improving SUD treatment quality, who could provide perspectives on the scope of unethical practices in the field and ways in which states have sought to prevent unethical practices and improve the quality of SUD treatment.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol
December 2024
National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Background: Understanding drug addiction as a disorder of maladaptive learning, where drug-associated or environmental cues trigger drug cravings and seeking, is crucial for developing effective treatments. Actin polymerization, a biochemical process, plays a crucial role in drug-related memory formation, particularly evident in conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigms involving drugs like morphine and methamphetamine. However, the role of actin polymerization in the reconsolidation of heroin-associated memories remains understudied.
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