Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinics for People With Problematic Opioid Use.

Importance: New approaches are needed to provide care for individuals with problematic opioid use (POU). Rapid access addiction medicine (RAAM) clinics offer a flexible, low-barrier, rapid access care model for this population. Objective: To assess the associations of RAAM clinics with emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and mortality for people with POU. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective cohort study involving a matched control group was performed using health administrative data from Ontario, Canada. Anonymized data from 4 Ontario RAAM clinics (cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Oshawa, and Sudbury) were linked with health administrative data. Analyses were performed on a cohort of individuals who received care at participating RAAM clinics and geographically matched controls who did not receive care at a RAAM clinic. All visits occurred between October 2, 2017, and October 30, 2019, and data analyses were completed in spring 2023. A propensity score-matching approach was used to balance confounding factors between groups, with adjustment for covariates that remained imbalanced after matching. Exposures: Individuals who initiated care through the RAAM model (including assessment, pharmacotherapy, brief counseling, harm reduction, triage to appropriate level of care, navigation to community services and primary care, and related care) were compared with individuals who did not receive care through the RAAM model. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was a composite measure of ED visits for any reason, hospitalization for any reason, and all-cause mortality (all measured up to 30 days after index date). Outcomes up to 90 days after index date, as well as outcomes looking at opioid-related ED visits and hospitalizations, were also assessed. Results: In analyses of the sample of 876 patients formed using propensity score matching, 440 in the RAAM group (mean [SD] age, 36.5 [12.6] years; 276 [62.7%] male) and 436 in the control group (mean [SD] age, 36.8 [13.8] years; 258 [59.2%] male), the pooled odds ratio (OR) for the primary, 30-day composite outcome of all-cause ED visit, hospitalization, or mortality favored the RAAM model (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50-0.92). Analysis of the same outcome for opioid-related reasons only also favored the RAAM intervention (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.29-0.76). Findings for the individual events of hospitalization, ED visit, and mortality at both 30-day and 90-day follow-up also favored the RAAM model, with comparisons reaching statistical significance in most cases. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of individuals with POU, RAAM clinics were associated with reductions in ED visits, hospitalizations, and mortality. These findings provide valuable evidence toward a broadened adoption of the RAAM model in other regions of North America and beyond.

Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions for problematic methamphetamine use: Findings from a scoping review of the literature.

RATIONALE: Methamphetamine use and related harms have risen at alarming rates. While several psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions have been described in the literature, there is uncertainty regarding the best approach for the management of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) and problematic methamphetamine use (PMU). We conducted a scoping review of recent systematic reviews (SR), clinical practice guidelines (CPG), and primary controlled studies of psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments for MUD/PMU. METHODS: Guided by an a priori protocol, electronic database search updates (e.g., MEDLINE, Embase) were performed in February 2022. Screening was performed following a two-stage process, leveraging artificial intelligence to increase efficiency of title and abstract screening. Studies involving individuals who use methamphetamine, including key subgroups (e.g. those with mental health comorbidities; adolescents/youths; gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men) were sought. We examined evidence related to methamphetamine use, relapse, use of other substances, risk behaviors, mental health, harms, and retention. Figures, tables and descriptive synthesis were used to present findings from the identified literature. RESULTS: We identified 2 SRs, one CPG, and 54 primary studies reported in 69 publications that met our eligibility criteria. Amongst SRs, one concluded that psychostimulants had no effect on methamphetamine abstinence or treatment retention while the other reported no effect of topiramate on cravings. The CPG strongly recommended psychosocial interventions as well as self-help and family support groups for post-acute management of methamphetamine-related disorders. Amongst primary studies, many interventions were assessed by only single studies; contingency management was the therapy most commonly associated with evidence of potential effectiveness, while bupropion and modafinil were analogously the most common pharmacologic interventions. Nearly all interventions showed signs of potential benefit on at least one methamphetamine-related outcome measure. DISCUSSION: This scoping review provides an overview of available interventions for the treatment of MUD/PMU. As most interventions were reported by a single study, the effectiveness of available interventions remains uncertain. Primary studies with longer durations of treatment and follow-up, larger sample sizes, and of special populations are required for conclusive recommendations of best approaches for the treatment of MUD/PMU.

Impacts of medical and non-medical cannabis on the health of older adults: Findings from a scoping review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis legalization has enabled increased consumption in older adults. Age-related mental, physical, and physiological changes may lead to differences in effects of cannabis in older adults compared to younger individuals. OBJECTIVE: To perform a scoping review to map the evidence regarding the health effects of cannabis use for medical and non-medical purposes in older adults. METHODS: Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library) were searched for systematic reviews (SRs), randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized/observational studies (NRSs) assessing the health effects and associations of cannabis use (medical or non-medical) in adults ≥ 50 years of age. Included studies met age-related inclusion criteria or involved a priori identified health conditions common among older adults. Records were screened using a liberal accelerated approach and data charting was performed independently by two reviewers. Descriptive summaries, structured tables, effect direction plots and bubble plots were used to synthesize study findings. FINDINGS: From 31,393 citations, 133 publications describing 134 unique studies (26 SRs, 36 RCTs, 72 NRSs) were included. Medical cannabis had inconsistent therapeutic effects in specific patient conditions (e.g., end-stage cancer, dementia), with a number of studies suggesting possible benefits while others found no benefit. For medical cannabis, harmful associations outnumbered beneficial, and RCTs reported more negative effects than NRSs. Cannabis use was associated with greater frequencies of depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, substance use and problematic substance use, accidents/injuries, and acute healthcare use. Studies often were small, did not consistently assess harms, and did not adjust for confounding. DISCUSSION: The effects of medical cannabis are inconsistent within specific patient conditions. For older adults, generally, the available evidence suggests cannabis use may be associated with greater frequencies of mental health issues, substance use, and acute healthcare use, and the benefit-to-risk ratio is unclear. Studies with a balanced assessment of benefits and harms may guide appropriate public health messaging to balance the marketing pressures of cannabis to older adults.

Resting State EEG Activity Related to Impulsivity in People with Prescription Opioid Use Disorder.

Previous studies on EEG activity in prescription opioid use disorder (OUD) have reported neuronal dysfunction related to heroin use, most consistently reflected by increases in ß-brain oscillations. As similar research has yet to examine EEG associated with non-medical use of prescription opioid and as inhibitory deficits are associated with OUD, this pilot study compared quantitative EEGs of 18 patients with prescription OUD and 18 healthy volunteers and assessed relationships between oscillatory activity and impulsivity with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Spectral EEGs showed greater amplitude density in ß1, ß2, and ß3 frequencies across frontal, temporal-central and posterior recording areas in patients. Similar abnormal amplitude density increases were seen in δ but not in θ or α frequency bands. Patients exhibited greater scores (impaired impulse control) on BIS-11 subscales (attention, motor, self-control) and impairment of these impulsive subtypes was associated with increases in ß and δ oscillations. In patients, ß1, ß2, and δ activity was positively associated with disorder severity. Taken together, the results suggest that altered brain oscillations in persons with prescription OUD show some similarities with reported oscillatory changes in heroin use and may indicate a chronic state of imbalance in neuronal networks regulating impulsive and inhibitory control systems.

Evaluating comparative effectiveness of psychosocial interventions adjunctive to opioid agonist therapy for opioid use disorder: A systematic review with network meta-analyses.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend that individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive pharmacological and psychosocial interventions; however, the most appropriate psychosocial intervention is not known. In collaboration with people with lived experience, clinicians, and policy makers, we sought to assess the relative benefits of psychosocial interventions as an adjunct to opioid agonist therapy (OAT) among persons with OUD. METHODS: A review protocol was registered a priori (CRD42018090761), and a comprehensive search for randomized controlled trials (RCT) was conducted from database inception to June 2020 in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Established methods for study selection and data extraction were used. Primary outcomes were treatment retention and opioid use (measured by urinalysis for opioid use and opioid abstinence outcomes). Odds ratios were estimated using network meta-analyses (NMA) as appropriate based on available evidence, and in remaining cases alternative approaches to synthesis were used. RESULTS: Seventy-two RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias evaluations commonly identified study limitations and poor reporting with regard to methods used for allocation concealment and selective outcome reporting. Due to inconsistency in reporting of outcome measures, only 48 RCTs (20 unique interventions, 5,404 participants) were included for NMA of treatment retention, where statistically significant differences were found when psychosocial interventions were used as an adjunct to OAT as compared to OAT-only. The addition of rewards-based interventions such as contingency management (alone or with community reinforcement approach) to OAT was superior to OAT-only. Few statistically significant differences between psychosocial interventions were identified among any other pairwise comparisons. Heterogeneity in reporting formats precluded an NMA for opioid use. A structured synthesis was undertaken for the remaining outcomes which included opioid use (n = 18 studies) and opioid abstinence (n = 35 studies), where the majority of studies found no significant difference between OAT plus psychosocial interventions as compared to OAT-only. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review offers a comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence and the limitations of current trials of psychosocial interventions applied as an adjunct to OAT for OUD. Clinicians and health services may wish to consider integrating contingency management in addition to OAT for OUD in their settings to improve treatment retention. Aside from treatment retention, few differences were consistently found between psychosocial interventions adjunctive to OAT and OAT-only. There is a need for high-quality RCTs to establish more definitive conclusions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration CRD42018090761.

Effects of medical and non-medical cannabis use in older adults: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: With its legalisation and regulation in Canada in 2018, the proportion of Canadians reporting cannabis use in 2019 increased substantially over the previous year, with half of new users being aged 45+ years. While use in older adults has been low historically, as those born in the 1950s and 1960s continue to age, this demographic will progressively have more liberal attitudes, prior cannabis exposure and higher use rates. However, older adults experience slower metabolism, increased likelihood of polypharmacy, cognitive decline and chronic physical/mental health problems. There is a need to enhance knowledge of the effects of cannabis use in older adults. The following question will be addressed using a scoping review approach: what evidence exists regarding beneficial and harmful effects of medical and non-medical cannabis use in adults >50 years of age? Given that beneficial and harmful effects of cannabis may be mediated by patient-level (eg, age, sex and race) and cannabis-related factors (eg, natural vs synthetic, consumption method), subgroup effects related to these and additional factors will be explored. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Methods for scoping reviews outlined by Arksey & O'Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute will be used. A librarian designed a systematic search of the literature from database inception to June 2019. Using the OVID platform, Ovid MEDLINE will be searched, including Epub Ahead of Print and In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Embase Classic+Embase, and PsycINFO for reviews, randomised trials, non-randomised trials and observational studies of cannabis use. The Cochrane Library on Wiley will also be searched. Eligibility criteria will be older adult participants, currently using cannabis (medical or non-medical), with studies required to report a cannabis-related health outcome to be eligible. Two reviewers will screen citations and full texts, with support from artificial intelligence. Two reviewers will chart data. Tables/graphics will be used to map evidence and identify evidence gaps. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This research will enhance awareness of existing evidence addressing the health effects of medical and non-medical cannabis use in older adults. Findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and a stakeholder meeting. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/5JTAQ.

Alcohol Medical Intervention Clinic: A Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Model Reduces Emergency Department Visits.

OBJECTIVES: Problematic alcohol use accounts for a large proportion of Emergency Department (ED) visits and revisits. We developed the Alcohol Medical Intervention Clinic (AMIC), a Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) service, to reduce alcohol-related ED re-utilization and improve care for individuals with alcohol problems. This article describes the AMIC model and reports on an evaluation of its impact on patients and the ED system. METHODS: Individuals presenting to The Ottawa Hospital Emergency Departments (TOH-ED) for an alcohol-related issue were referred to AMIC. Using data collected via medical chart review, and also self-report questionnaires, we assessed ED visits, revisits, and changes in alcohol use and mental health symptoms in patients before and after receiving services in AMIC. The incidence of alcohol-related ED visits and re-visits from 12-month periods before and after the introduction of AMIC were compared using data from TOH Data Warehouse. Connections made to additional services and patient satisfaction was also assessed. RESULTS: For patients served by AMIC, from May 26, 2016 to June 30, 2017 (n = 194), there was an 82% reduction in 30-day visits and re-visits (P < 0.001). An 8.1% reduction in total alcohol-related 30-day TOH-ED revisit rates and a 10% reduction in total alcohol-related TOH-ED visits were found. After receiving AMIC services, clients reported reductions in alcohol use, depression, and anxiety (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: AMIC demonstrated positive impacts on patients and the healthcare system. AMIC reduced ED utilization, connected people with community services, and built system capacity to serve people with alcohol problems.

Evaluating comparative effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for persons receiving opioid agonist therapy for opioid use disorder: protocol for a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The opioid crisis has resulted in increasing rates of death caused by problematic opioid use. Current clinical guidelines recommend that individuals with persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive pharmacological (eg, opioid agonist therapy) and psychosocial (eg, cognitive behavioural therapy) therapy; however, the best combination of pharmacologic and psychosocial components is not known. Our objective of the planned study is to conduct a comprehensive systematic review to assess the relative benefits of psychosocial interventions as an adjunct to opioid agonist therapy among persons with OUD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A comprehensive search for randomised controlled trials published in English or French will be conducted from database inception to March 2018. The search will be conducted in MEDLINE and translated for Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Two independent reviewers will screen, extract and assess risk of bias of eligible articles. Primary outcomes of interest will be treatment retention and opioid use (based on urinalysis results). Secondary outcomes will include self-reported opioid use, abstinence from illicit drugs, adherence to psychosocial therapy and opioid agonist therapy, risk for sexually transmitted disease, risk for blood borne pathogens, changes in mental health symptoms (eg, depression), measures of craving and changes in patients' quality of life and relevant adverse events. If sufficient data and adequate homogeneity exists, network meta-analyses (NMA) will be performed. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This will be the first systematic review to incorporate NMA to compare psychosocial treatments used as an adjunct to opioid agonist therapy for OUD. Results of this review will inform clinical management of persons with OUD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018090761.