Nima Tourchian, Daniel McCormack, Pamela Leece, Mina Tadrous, Tara Gomes
{"title":"Patterns of publicly funded naltrexone use among patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder in Ontario.","authors":"Nima Tourchian, Daniel McCormack, Pamela Leece, Mina Tadrous, Tara Gomes","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad091","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad091","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Naltrexone is recommended first-line to manage alcohol use disorder (AUD). With previous studies indicating poor retention on naltrexone, we determined duration of naltrexone use and assessed the association between prescription setting and time to discontinuation in Ontario.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study among Ontario public drug beneficiaries diagnosed with AUD who initiated publicly funded naltrexone from June 2018 to September 2019. The primary outcome was time to naltrexone discontinuation, with a secondary analysis assessing receipt of at least one prescription refill. We used Cox proportional hazards models and logistic regression to test the association between prescription setting and each medication persistence outcome.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 2531 new naltrexone patients with AUD, the median duration of naltrexone use was 31 days and 394 (15.6%) continued naltrexone for 6 months or longer. There was no association between setting of initiation and duration of naltrexone use; however, those initiating naltrexone following an acute inpatient hospital stay were more likely to fill a second prescription (aOR 1.43, 95% CI 0.96-2.14), while those initiating after an ED visit were less likely to be dispensed a second prescription (aOR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.52-0.90) compared to those starting in a physician's office.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Persistence on naltrexone to treat an AUD is low, regardless of the setting of initiation. Further research is needed to elucidate the barriers encountered by patients with AUD that lead to poor treatment persistence in order to develop interventions that facilitate patient-centered access to evidence-based treatment for AUD in the province.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10833073/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139650044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the retirement of Jonathan Chick, Editor-in-Chief of Alcohol and Alcoholism: a fond and grateful farewell.","authors":"Lorenzo Leggio, Giancarlo Colombo","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agae002","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agae002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139670961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jørgen G Bramness, Lars Lien, Jenny S Moe, Helge Toft, Susmita Pandey, Torgeir G Lid, Magnus Strømmen, John R Andersen, Ingeborg Bolstad
{"title":"Bariatric surgery patients in AUD treatment in Norway-an exploratory cross-sectional study.","authors":"Jørgen G Bramness, Lars Lien, Jenny S Moe, Helge Toft, Susmita Pandey, Torgeir G Lid, Magnus Strømmen, John R Andersen, Ingeborg Bolstad","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agae007","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agae007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Patients who have undergone some forms of bariatric surgery have increased risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD). In the present observational study, we compared patients with AUD who themselves reported to having undergone bariatric surgery with other patients in treatment for AUD.</p><p><strong>Materials: </strong>One-hundred-and-six consecutively enrolled patients in residential treatment for AUD were asked if they had undergone bariatric surgery. Sociodemographics, mental health-related, and alcohol use-related parameters were compared between those who had and those who had not undergone bariatric surgery.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 106 patients with AUD, seven (6.6%; 95% confidence interval, 2.7%-13.1%) had undergone bariatric surgery. Six of seven patients had undergone such surgery were women (P < .001). The patients with AUD who had undergone bariatric surgery were similar to other patients with AUD on most other parameters, the exception being a larger number of alcohol units ingested to feel an effect of alcohol (adjusted odds ratio 7.1; 95% confidence interval 2.0-12.2; P = .007).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The high number of patients with AUD that reported having undergone bariatric surgery emphasizes the risks following such a procedure. The overrepresentation of women may reflect than more women undergo such procedures. The unexpected finding that patients with AUD having undergone bariatric surgery seemed to need more alcohol to feel intoxicated warrants further research.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11445783/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139899147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wei Q Deng, Kyla Belisario, Joshua C Gray, Emily E Levitt, James MacKillop
{"title":"A high-resolution PheWAS approach to alcohol-related polygenic risk scores reveals mechanistic influences of alcohol reinforcing value and drinking motives.","authors":"Wei Q Deng, Kyla Belisario, Joshua C Gray, Emily E Levitt, James MacKillop","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad093","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>This study uses a high-resolution phenome-wide approach to evaluate the motivational mechanisms of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) that have been robustly associated with coarse alcohol phenotypes in large-scale studies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In a community-based sample of 1534 Europeans, we examined genome-wide PRSs for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), drinks per week, alcohol use disorder (AUD), problematic alcohol use (PAU), and general addiction, in relation to 42 curated phenotypes. The curated phenotypes were in seven categories: alcohol consumption, alcohol reinforcing value, drinking motives, other addictive behaviors, commonly comorbid psychiatric syndromes, impulsivity, and personality traits.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The PRS for each alcohol phenotype was validated via its within-sample association with the corresponding phenotype (adjusted R2s = 0.35-1.68%, Ps = 0.012-3.6 × 10-7) with the exception of AUD. All PRSs were positively associated with alcohol reinforcing value and drinking motives, with the strongest effects from AUDIT-consumption (adjusted R2s = 0.45-1.33%, Ps = 0.006-3.6 × 10-5) and drinks per week PRSs (adjusted R2s = 0.52-2.28%, Ps = 0.004-6.6 × 10-9). Furthermore, the PAU and drinks per week PRSs were positively associated with adverse childhood experiences (adjusted R2s = 0.6-0.7%, Ps = 0.0001-4.8 × 10-4).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results implicate alcohol reinforcing value and drinking motives as genetically-influenced mechanisms using PRSs for the first time. The findings also highlight the value of dissecting genetic influence on alcohol involvement through diverse phenotypic risk pathways but also the need for future studies with both phenotypic richness and larger samples.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139519351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karen A Johnson, Justin T McDaniel, Joana Okine, Heather K Graham, Ellen T Robertson, Shanna McIntosh, Juliane Wallace, David L Albright
{"title":"A machine learning model for the prediction of unhealthy alcohol use among women of childbearing age in Alabama.","authors":"Karen A Johnson, Justin T McDaniel, Joana Okine, Heather K Graham, Ellen T Robertson, Shanna McIntosh, Juliane Wallace, David L Albright","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad075","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad075","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study utilizes a machine learning model to predict unhealthy alcohol use treatment levels among women of childbearing age.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional study, women of childbearing age (n = 2397) were screened for alcohol use over a 2-year period as part of the AL-SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment in Alabama) program in three healthcare settings across Alabama for unhealthy alcohol use severity and depression. A support vector machine learning model was estimated to predict unhealthy alcohol use scores based on depression score and age.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The machine learning model was effective in predicting no intervention among patients with lower Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-2 scores of any age, but a brief intervention among younger patients (aged 18-27 years) with PHQ-2 scores >3 and a referral to treatment for unhealthy alcohol use among older patients (between the ages of 25 and 50) with PHQ-2 scores >4.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The machine learning model can be an effective tool in predicting unhealthy alcohol use treatment levels and approaches.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134648161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Baclofen in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: tailored doses matter.","authors":"Renaud de Beaurepaire, Philippe Jaury","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad090","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad090","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>To address the question of tailored baclofen prescribing in alcohol use disorder (AUD) in relation to dose-dependent efficacy and the potential danger of high doses and to provide suggestions for the use of high doses of baclofen in the treatment of AUD. The context is the approvement in France of baclofen in the treatment of AUD without dose limitation, making French physicians, who usually prescribe baclofen in a tailored manner, often use high or very high doses.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A narrative review of the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that used tailored baclofen prescribing and of the severe adverse effects of baclofen that have been reported in the literature.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results show that RCTs using tailored doses of baclofen in AUD are not completely demonstrative, though they are encouraging according to certain meta-analyses, while observational studies that used tailored doses constantly show a good effectiveness of baclofen treatment. The results suggest that many severe adverse effects of baclofen could be related to a nonrespect by physicians of prescription rules and appropriate treatment monitoring.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The use of tailored doses shows that the dose required to suppress cravings is highly variable, low or high, depending on each case. Analysis of the circumstances in which severe adverse effects occur suggest that a careful monitoring of baclofen prescribing might prevent a large majority of severe adverse effects. We propose that the education of the patients and the prescription skills, seriousness, and availability of the prescribing physicians are of major importance in the managing of tailored baclofen treatment of AUD.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10807704/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139545348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"'Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation!'; A literature review on alcohol addiction in the British Sikh and/or Punjabi community and the barriers to accessing support.","authors":"Karamdeep Kaur","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad080","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>The literature review aimed to identify the barriers the Punjabi and/or Sikh community have in accessing support for alcohol addiction.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A systematic review of the literature was undertaken of four scholarly databases, Google Scholar and grey literature on UK-based research conducted after 1980 into alcohol addiction in the Punjabi and/or Sikh community. Fourteen papers met the inclusion criteria outlined in the paper and were included in the review.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Ten main barriers to accessing support were found; stigma, religion, lack of understanding of addiction, over reliance on a medical model of treatment and disregard of therapy, cultural implications of being a member of the Punjabi and/or Sikh community and the addiction community, gender and generational differences and a lack of government commitment to alcohol support for BME communities with a lack of culturally specific services.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Despite the many barriers explored, the role of stigma remained a powerful theme throughout often underpinning other barriers. A key recommendation across many papers was the need for culturally sensitive support services. Several areas for future research were identified.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138450709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the Editors regarding 'Efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce alcohol use in comorbid alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials'.","authors":"Lien-Chung Wei","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agae001","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agae001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139569330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sofia Hemrage, Eileen Brobbin, Paolo Deluca, Colin Drummond
{"title":"Response to Letter to the Editors regarding 'Efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce alcohol use in comorbid alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials'.","authors":"Sofia Hemrage, Eileen Brobbin, Paolo Deluca, Colin Drummond","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agae004","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agae004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"59 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10823155/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139569348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ewen Kervadec, Baptiste Fauvel, Lana Strika-Bruneau, Ammar Amirouche, Vincent Verroust, Pascale Piolino, Bruno Romeo, Amine Benyamina
{"title":"Reduction of alcohol use and increase in psychological flexibility after a naturalistic psychedelic experience: a retrospective survey.","authors":"Ewen Kervadec, Baptiste Fauvel, Lana Strika-Bruneau, Ammar Amirouche, Vincent Verroust, Pascale Piolino, Bruno Romeo, Amine Benyamina","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agad078","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agad078","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Alcohol use can be significantly associated with negative social, professional, and health outcomes. Even more so, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a critical public health issue and major avoidable risk factor. This study aimed to examine the effect of a naturalistic psychedelic experience on alcohol use and related measures.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective online survey was conducted on 160 individuals who reported a psychedelic experience and a concomitant drinking habit but did not necessarily have an AUD. Demographic data, characteristics of the psychedelic experience, and changes in alcohol consumption and psychological flexibility were surveyed. Results: The mean number of drinking days per week and AUDIT scores significantly decreased after the psychedelic experience (P < .001). Subjects who quit or reduced drinking had a more severe AUD (P < .01) and lower psychological flexibility (P = .003) before the psychedelic session. Alcohol use reduction was significantly associated with the intensity of the mystical experience (P = .03). Psychological flexibility increased more in participants who reduced their alcohol use (P < .001), and the change in psychological flexibility was one of the predictors of alcohol use improvement (P = .003). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a naturalistic psychedelic experience could be associated with a reduction in alcohol use and dependency. Such positive health outcomes can be associated with the intensity of the mystical experience as well as an increase in psychological flexibility.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138045981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}