Evaluation of peer recovery services for substance use disorder in Minnesota: Impact of peer recovery initiation on SUD treatment and recovery.

Substance use disorder (SUD) remains one of the most persistent public health challenges across the nation and in Minnesota. One intervention to help people with SUD is peer recovery services (PRS). PRS is a form on non-clinical support where trained individuals who are more established in recovery come alongside people currently in the recovery journey and provide guidance in the treatment process, help in accessing resources, and offer an empathetic ear. In combination with other services in the continuum of care, PRS seeks to reduce harm from disordered use. In 2018, Minnesota made PRS for SUD a Medicaid reimbursable service. While prior literature demonstrates promising effects of PRS for SUD, especially in treatment retention and participant experience, most studies evaluated PRS in limited settings, rather than in a large-scale implementation. Our retrospective, matched-cohort study used administrative data to estimate the impact of initiating Medicaid-reimbursable PRS for SUD on treatment, overdose, and mortality. Our results align, in some dimensions, with prior literature evaluating smaller-scale programs with positive impacts on treatment completion. We also find, however, that PRS at scale did not produce other positive outcomes that past studies have documented, particularly around overdose and inpatient treatment. This suggests that PRS follows a common challenge of implementing promising ideas at scale.

Impact of delaying high school start times on weight and related behaviors - the START study.

In the US, few adolescents get adequate school night sleep, largely due to early school start times. In the START study we aimed to test the following hypothesis: That following the implementation of later high school start times students have lesser longitudinal increases in body mass index (BMI) and shift to more healthful weight-related behaviors relative to students attending schools that retain early start times. The study enrolled a cohort of students (n = 2426) in five high schools in the Twin Cities, MN metro. Heights and weights were measured objectively, and surveys were administered annually from 9th through 11th grades (2016-2018). All study schools started early (either 7:30 am or 7:45 am) at baseline (2016). At follow-up 1 (2017) and continuing through follow-up 2 (2018), two schools delayed their start times by 50-65 min, while three comparison schools started at 7:30 am throughout the observation period. Using a difference-in-differences natural experiment design, we estimated differences in changes in BMI and weight-related behaviors over time between policy change and comparison schools. Students' BMIs increased in parallel in both policy change and comparison schools over time. However relative to changes in comparison schools after the start time shift, students in policy change schools had a modestly more healthful profile of weight-related behaviors - for instance they had a relatively greater probability of eating breakfast, having supper with their family, getting more activity, eating fast food less frequently, and eating vegetables daily. Later start times could be a durable, population-wide strategy that promotes healthful weight behaviors.

The impact of delayed school start time on adolescent beverage consumption, findings from the START study.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine the effects of high school start time delay, a proven sleep-promoting intervention, on sugary beverage (SB) consumption among U.S. adolescents. METHODS: In the Spring of 2016 (baseline), the START study recruited 2134 ninth grade students who were enrolled high schools in the Twin Cities, MN metropolitan area. These participants were surveyed again in their 10th and 11th grade years, in Spring 2017 and 2018 (follow-ups 1 and 2). All five high schools started early (7:30 or 7:45 a.m.) at baseline. By follow-up 1, two "policy change" schools shifted their start times later (8:20 or 8:50 a.m.) and maintained these later start times through follow-up 2 while three "comparison schools" retained an early start time at all time points. Generalized estimating equations using a negative binomial distribution were used to obtain estimates of the number of sugary beverages consumed per day at each wave as well as the difference in difference (DiD) estimates between baseline and each follow-up period comparing policy change to comparison schools. RESULTS: Mean baseline sugary beverage consumption was 0.9 (1.5) beverages per day in policy change schools and 1.2 (1.7) beverages per day in the comparison schools. While there was no evidence of impact of start time change on total SB consumption, DiD estimates revealed a small decrease in the number of caffeinated sugary beverages consumed between baseline and the second follow-up period in students attending the policy change schools relative to comparison schools in both crude (0.11/day reduction, p-value = 0.048) and adjusted analyses (0.11/day reduction, p-value = 0.028). CONCLUSION: Although the differences in this study were quite modest, a population-wide reduction in sugary beverage consumption could have public health benefit.

Association of Project ECHO Training With Buprenorphine Prescribing by Primary Care Clinicians in Minnesota for Treating Opioid Use Disorder.

Importance: Buprenorphine is an approved medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD); however, prescribing buprenorphine is limited by a requirement to obtain a waiver to prescribe it (hereinafter, "DATA [Drug Abuse Treatment Act]-waiver") and a lack of knowledge of the best practices among clinicians. Objective: To examine how Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) telementoring is associated with changes in DATA-waiver attainment and buprenorphine prescribing among primary care clinicians in Minnesota. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this retrospective matched-cohort study of 918 clinicians, ECHO-trained clinicians were enrolled on the date they first attended ECHO (January 3, 2018, to June 11, 2020); comparison clinicians were assigned an enrollment date from the distribution of the first ECHO sessions. The baseline period was 12 months preceding enrollment, with follow-up for 18 months or until June 30, 2020. The ECHO-trained clinicians were a population-based sample of primary care clinicians who treated Medicaid patients in Minnesota 12 months prior to the initiation of ECHO training. This analysis used propensity score matching to select comparison clinicians who were similar across demographic and clinical practice characteristics at baseline in a 2:1 ratio. Follow-up was available for 167 ECHO-trained clinicians (54.6%) and 330 comparison clinicians (53.9%) at 18 months. Exposures: ECHO-trained clinicians attended at least 1 weekly, hour-long ECHO session. Comparison clinicians never participated in any ECHO sessions. Main Outcomes and Measures: DATA-waiver attainment, any buprenorphine prescribing, and the percentage of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who were prescribed buprenorphine. Results: The final sample included 918 clinicians (ECHO-trained [306]; comparison [612]), of whom 620 (67.5%) practiced outside the metropolitan Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul) region. The mean (SD) age of the ECHO-trained clinicians was 46.0 (12.1) years and that of the comparison clinicians was 45.7 (12.3) years. Relative to the changes among the matched comparison clinicians, the ECHO-trained clinicians were more likely to obtain a DATA-waiver (difference-in-differences, 22.7 percentage points; 95% CI, 15.5-29.9 percentage points; P < .001) and prescribe any buprenorphine (16.5 percentage points; 95% CI, 10.4-22.5 percentage points; P < .001) after 6 quarters of follow-up. ECHO-trained clinicians prescribed buprenorphine to a greater share of patients with OUD (a difference of 7.6 percentage points per month; 95% CI, 4.6-10.6 percentage points per month; P < .001), relative to that prescribed by the comparison clinicians. Conclusions and Relevance: According to the findings of this matched-cohort study, ECHO telementoring may be associated with greater prescribing of buprenorphine by primary care clinicians. These findings suggest that Project ECHO training could be a useful tool for expanding access to MOUD.

Weekend night vs. school night sleep patterns, weight status, and weight-related behaviors among adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examine associations between objectively measured weekend night vs. school night sleep patterns, weight status, and weight-related behaviors among adolescents. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Five Minnesota high schools that started early (7:30 or 7:45 AM) in Spring 2016. PARTICIPANTS: Ninth grade students, ages 14.5-16 years (n = 284). MEASUREMENTS: Students completed surveys, had body measurements taken, and wore sleep (wrist) actigraphs for 1 week (n = 284). We examined weekend night-school night differences in sleep duration and sleep timing. We then assessed whether these factors were related to weight status and weight-related behaviors (eating behaviors, food consumption, physical activity, beverage consumption) using generalized linear mixed models. RESULTS: On average, students slept 1.5 hours (95% confidence interval 1.3-1.7) more and had a sleep midpoint 1.9 hours (1.8-2.1) later on weekend nights compared to school nights. Female students had larger increases in sleep duration on weekend nights than males but similar timing differences. Sleep duration differences were uncorrelated with sleep timing differences (r = 0.01). Neither duration nor timing differences were associated with overweight, obesity, or any of the eating behaviors we examined. However, sleeping longer on weekend nights than on school nights was associated with lower probability of being active 6-7 days per week (p = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents have substantial sleep duration and sleep timing differences on weekend nights vs. school nights. While these differences may not be associated with weight status or weight-related behaviors, they reflect the reality that most adolescents have schedules that restrict their sleep.

Assessing Changes in Adolescents' Sleep Characteristics and Dietary Quality in the START Study, a Natural Experiment on Delayed School Start Time Policies.

BACKGROUND: Sleep duration, quality, and timing may influence dietary quality. In adults, poor dietary quality is a risk factor for numerous chronic diseases. It is unclear how these various sleep domains influence adolescents' diets because prior population-based studies have not effectively manipulated sleep, did not include objective sleep measures, and had short follow-up times. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to examine 1) how adolescent sleep characteristics relate to dietary quality; and 2) how delay in high school start times (which lengthened sleep duration) affects dietary quality over 2 y. METHODS: In the START study, adolescents (grades 9-11, n = 423) attending 5 high schools in the Minneapolis, Minnesota metropolitan area were annually assessed in 3 waves (2016-2018). At Baseline, all schools started "early" (07:30 or 07:45). From Follow-up 1 through Follow-up 2, 2 "policy change schools" shifted to later start times (to 08:20 and 08:50). Three "comparison schools" maintained their early start throughout. Sleep characteristics were measured with actigraphy. Mixed-effect regression models were used to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of sleep characteristics with dietary quality, and school start time policy change with dietary quality change. RESULTS: Cross-sectionally, later sleep midpoint and onset were associated with dietary quality scores 1.6-1.7 lower (both P < 0.05). However, no prospective associations were observed between sleep characteristics and dietary quality in longitudinal models. Shifting to later school start time tended to be associated with a 2.4-point increase in dietary quality score (P = 0.09) at Follow-up 1, but was not associated with change in dietary quality scores at Follow-up 2 (P = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS: High school students attending delayed-start schools maintained better dietary quality than students in comparison schools; however, differences were not statistically significant. Overall study findings highlight the complexity of the relation between sleep behavior and diet in adolescence.

Association of Delaying School Start Time With Sleep-Wake Behaviors Among Adolescents.

PURPOSE: Few adolescents spend enough time asleep on school nights. This problem could be addressed by delaying high school start times, but does this translate to reduced prevalence of sleep-wake problems like awakening too early or feeling sleepy during the day? METHODS: The START study (n = 2,414) followed a cohort of students from five Minnesota high schools to evaluate impacts of school start time delays. Participants were enrolled in ninth grade (Baseline) when all schools started early (7:30 or 7:45 a.m.). At Follow-Up 1 (10th grade) and Follow-Up 2 (11th grade), two schools had delayed their start times by 50 and 65 minutes while three comparison schools started at 7:30 a.m. Six sleep-wake behaviors were assessed at all three time points via survey. Generalized estimating equation models were used to investigate changes in sleep-wake problems between policy change and comparison schools. RESULTS: The prevalence of sleep-wake problems at Baseline ranged from 11% for being late to class due to oversleeping to 48% for needing to be told to wake multiple times in the morning. Compared to students from comparison schools, students at policy change schools reported smaller increases in the prevalence of feeling sleepy daily and oversleeping and being late to class between 9th and 11th grade. After implementation of the delayed start, awakening too early was more common among students at policy change schools compared to the comparison schools. CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal study provides evidence that delaying high school start times reduces daytime sleepiness and school tardiness.

Changes in association between school foods and child and adolescent dietary quality during implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

PURPOSE: The purposes of the study were to estimate the effect of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) implementation on dietary quality of all U.S. school-aged children and adolescents and examine whether those effects differed by the demographic group. METHODS: We used survey regression on 2007-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to estimate the proportion of energy intake from school foods and the association between school food intake and dietary quality, before and after HHFKA passage/implementation. To account for demographic changes in the U.S. population over time, inverse probability weighting was used. The product of the proportion of energy from school foods and the association between school food intake and dietary quality estimated the effect of HHFKA implementation on dietary quality. RESULTS: School food intake quantity remained stable during the study period. HHFKA implementation improved students' dietary quality by 4.3 Healthy Eating Index-2010 points (95% confidence interval: 2.5, 6.1) on days when school foods were eaten and by 1.3 Healthy Eating Index-2010 points (95% confidence interval: 0.73, 1.8) averaged over all days annually. CONCLUSIONS: HHFKA implementation improved the total dietary quality of U.S. school students. U.S. students would benefit from eating school meals in the post-HHFKA era, and HHFKA regulations should not be relaxed.

Association of Delaying School Start Time With Sleep Duration, Timing, and Quality Among Adolescents.

Importance: Sleep is a resource that has been associated with health and well-being; however, sleep insufficiency is common among adolescents. Objective: To examine how delaying school start time is associated with objectively assessed sleep duration, timing, and quality in a cohort of adolescents. Design, Setting, and Participants: This observational cohort study took advantage of district-initiated modifications in the starting times of 5 public high schools in the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota. A total of 455 students were followed up from grade 9 (May 3 to June 3, 2016) through grade 11 (March 15 to May 21, 2018). Data were analyzed from February 1 to July 24, 2019. Exposures: All 5 participating schools started early (7:30 am or 7:45 am) at baseline (2016). At follow-up 1 (2017) and continuing through follow-up 2 (2018), 2 schools delayed their start times by 50 and 65 minutes, whereas 3 comparison schools started at 7:30 am throughout the observation period. Main Outcomes and Measures: Wrist actigraphy was used to derive indices of sleep duration, timing, and quality. With a difference-in-difference design, linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate differences in changes in sleep time between delayed-start and comparison schools. Results: A total of 455 students were included in the analysis (among those identifying sex, 225 girls [49.5%] and 219 boys [48.1%]; mean [SD] age at baseline, 15.2 [0.3] years). Relative to the change observed in the comparison schools, students who attended delayed-start schools had an additional mean 41 (95% CI, 25-57) objectively measured minutes of night sleep at follow-up 1 and 43 (95% CI, 25-61) at follow-up 2. Delayed start times were not associated with falling asleep later on school nights at follow-ups, and students attending these schools had a mean difference-in-differences change in weekend night sleep of -24 (95% CI, -51 to 2) minutes from baseline to follow-up 1 and -34 (95% CI, -65 to -3) minutes from baseline to follow-up 2, relative to comparison school participants. Differences in differences for school night sleep onset, weekend sleep onset latency, sleep midpoints, sleep efficiency, and the sleep fragmentation index between the 2 conditions were minimal. Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that delaying high school start times could extend adolescent school night sleep duration and lessen their need for catch-up sleep on weekends. These findings suggest that later start times could be a durable strategy for addressing population-wide adolescent sleep deficits.

Correlates of short sleep duration among adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Short sleep duration is exceedingly common among adolescents and has implications for healthy youth development. We sought to document associations between adolescents' sleep duration and characteristics of their schedules, behaviors, and wellbeing. METHODS: We used data from the baseline wave (9th grade year) of the START study, a cohort of 2134 students in five Minnesota high schools to assess how self-reported sleep duration was associated with the prevalence of time-use characteristics (i.e. activity schedules, screen use), sleep-wake problems (i.e. trouble waking in the morning, falling asleep in class, etc.), and risk of depression. RESULTS: Shorter sleep duration was associated with various behaviors including greater computer/screen time and screen use after bed, a lower probability of doing homework, participation in sports doing chores on school nights, and reporting that it takes at least 20 min to fall asleep on school days (p < 0.05). Suboptimal sleep duration was also associated with a higher probability of all reported sleep-wake problems as well as higher risk of depressive symptoms (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Given that getting an optimal amount of sleep can protect youth from risk and promote healthy youth development, it is critical that we gain a greater understanding of correlates and consequences of short sleep duration in order to develop a sleep-friendly culture for youth.

SCHOOL START TIME AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN ADOLESCENTS.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Later school start times are associated with a number of benefits for adolescents. The purpose of the current review is to summarize the literature regarding the effects of delaying school start times on adolescent psychological health. RECENT FINDINGS: We identified eight observational studies that examined the relationship between schools' starting times and psychological outcomes. Of these, three were longitudinal studies that reported measures of adolescent mental health improved following a start time delay. Two cross-sectional studies showed that mental health scores were higher in schools with later compared to earlier start times. Three studies found no relationship between start time and mental health. SUMMARY: In the majority of studies reviewed, later school start times were associated with greater adolescent psychological health. However, inherent design drawbacks in the studies prevent us from concluding that these associations are causal. There are a wide range of potential benefits, beyond mental health, that later high school start times offer. This encouraging, emergent literature on delayed start times has led many school districts to consider changes to their start times.

Associations Between Bicycling for Transportation and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Minneapolis-Saint Paul Area Commuters: A Cross-Sectional Study in Working-Age Adults.

PURPOSE: This study describes the association between frequency of bicycling for active transportation and modifiable cardiometabolic risk factors in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) metropolitan area. DESIGN: We conducted an online survey from a convenience sample of likely bicycle commuters. SETTING: Participants were e-mailed invitations including a link to the online survey. PARTICIPANTS: Participants (n = 1450, 15.6% response rate) were residents of the 7-county MSP metropolitan area aged 20 to 64 years. MEASURES: Participants reported frequency of commute and destination cycling from April to September and October to March, prevalent cardiometabolic risk factors, and demographic covariates. ANALYSIS: We performed logistic regressions for associations between average weekly transportation bicycling and self-reported prevalent obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high triglycerides. We used Poisson regression for the count of cardiometabolic risk factors. All models were adjusted for age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other physical activity, with random intercepts by zip code. RESULTS: Self-reported bicycling frequency is associated with significantly lower odds of prevalent obesity, hypertension, and high triglycerides. Three bicycling trips per week is associated with 20% fewer (95% confidence interval: 12%-28%) cardiometabolic risk factors. CONCLUSION: Bicycling frequency is inversely associated with cardiometabolic risk factors. These results provide empirical support for the promotion of active transportation as public health policy.

Relationships between school start time, sleep duration, and adolescent behaviors.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives were 2-fold: (1) to examine how high school start times relate to adolescent sleep duration, and (2) to test associations between sleep duration and mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors in teens. DESIGN: This study examines selected questions from survey data collected between 2010 and 2013 high school students. SETTING: Respondents included more than 9000 students in grades 9 to 12 in 8 high schools in 5 school districts across the United States. MEASUREMENTS: The survey instrument is the 97-item Teen Sleep Habits Survey. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Because of clustering within schools and the use of repeated measures, generalized estimating equations were used to account for variance inflation. RESULTS: Greater sleep duration was associated with fewer reports of various mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors (all P values <.01). For instance, for each additional hour of sleep reported, there was a 28% reduction in the adjusted odds of a participant reporting that he or she felt "unhappy, sad, or depressed." Later wake-up times were associated with a reduction in risk for some, but not all factors. Later start times were significantly associated with greater sleep duration. CONCLUSIONS: Given that later start times allow for greater sleep duration and that adequate sleep duration is associated with more favorable mental health- and substance use-related issues and behaviors, it is important that school districts prioritize exploring and implementing policies, such as delayed start times, that may increase the amount of sleep of adolescent students, which is needed for their optimal development.