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The International Journal on Drug Policy Apr 2022Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a global public health concern. The standard of care for OUD involves treatment using medications such as buprenorphine, methadone, or... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a global public health concern. The standard of care for OUD involves treatment using medications such as buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone. No known review exists to assess the contextual factors associated with medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in the Arab World. This systematic review serves as an implementation science study to address this research gap and improve the uptake of MOUD in the Arab World.
METHODS
Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, and EMBASE, and a citation analysis, were used to identify peer-reviewed articles with original data on MOUD in the Arab World. Quality assessment was conducted using the CASP appraisal tools, and main findings were extracted and coded according to the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.
RESULTS
652 research articles were identified, and 10 met inclusion criteria for final review. Four studies considered health-systems aspects of MOUD administration, such as cost-effectiveness, the motivations for and impact of national MOUD policies, the types of social, political, and scientific advocacy that led to the adoption of MOUD in Arab countries, and the challenges limiting its wide-scale adoption in the Arab World. Six papers considered MOUD at individual and group patient levels by evaluating patient quality of life, addiction severity, patient satisfaction, and patient perspectives on opioid agonist therapy.
CONCLUSION
Despite financial and geographic barriers that limit access to MOUD in the Arab World, this review found MOUD to be cost-effective and associated with positive health outcomes for OUD patients in the Arab World. MOUD can be successfully established and scaled to the national level in the Arab context, and strong coalitions of health practitioners can lobby to establish MOUD programs in Arab countries. Still, the relative novelty of MOUD in this context precludes an abundance of research to address its long-term delivery in the Arab World.
Topics: Analgesics, Opioid; Arab World; Buprenorphine; Humans; Methadone; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Quality of Life
PubMed: 35182841
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103617 -
Audiology & Neuro-otology 2022The purpose of this review was to summarize the literature regarding the effects of opioids and illicit drugs on the auditory and vestibular systems.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this review was to summarize the literature regarding the effects of opioids and illicit drugs on the auditory and vestibular systems.
METHODS
Data were sourced from published papers reporting hearing loss (HL) and/or vestibular loss (VL) following misuse or overdose of opioids or illicit drugs. Most papers consisted of retrospective single-case reports, with few retrospective reviews or prospective cohort studies. Search terms included variations of HL, VL, opioids, and illicit drugs. Search results yielded 51 articles published between 1976 and 2021. A total of 44 articles were reviewed after excluding studies that were not available in English (n = 3), only described acute effects in healthy cohorts (n = 3) or only described general health aspects in a group on methadone maintenance (n = 1).
RESULTS
Sixteen studies reported ototoxicity from illicit drugs, 27 from prescription opioids, and 1 was unspecified. This review shows that HL associated with amphetamines and cocaine was typically sudden, bilateral, and temporary. HL from cocaine/crack and heroin often presented with greatest losses in the mid-frequency range. HL associated with opioids was typically sudden, bilateral, moderately severe to profound, and in most cases permanent. The literature is sparse regarding VL from illicit drugs and opioids.
CONCLUSION
Practitioners who see patients for sudden or rapidly progressive HL or VL with no apparent cause should inquire about misuse of illicit drugs and opioids, particularly when the HL does not respond to steroid treatment.
Topics: Analgesics, Opioid; Cocaine; Hearing; Hearing Loss; Humans; Illicit Drugs; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 35172308
DOI: 10.1159/000521965 -
International Journal of Molecular... Feb 2022Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer and the second leading cause of death in women. Local anaesthetics (LAs) and opioids have been shown to... (Review)
Review
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer and the second leading cause of death in women. Local anaesthetics (LAs) and opioids have been shown to influence cancer progression and metastasis formation in several pre-clinical studies. However, their effects do not seem to promote consensus. A systematic review was conducted using the databases Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, and Web of Science (2010 to December 2021). Search terms included "lidocaine", "ropivacaine", "levobupivacaine", "morphine", "methadone", "breast cancer", "breast carcinoma" and "breast neoplasms" in diverse combinations. The search yielded a total of 784 abstracts for initial review, 23 of which met the inclusion criteria. Here we summarise recent studies on the effect of analgesics and LAs on BC cell lines and animal models and in combination with other treatment regimens. The results suggest that local anaesthetics have anti-tumorigenic properties, hence their clinical application holds therapeutic potential. Regarding morphine, the findings are conflicting, but this opioid appears to be a tumour-promoting agent. Methadone-related results are scarce. Additional research is clearly required to further study the mechanisms underlying the controversial effects of each analgesic or LA to establish the implications upon the outcome and prognosis of BC patients' treatment.
Topics: Anesthetics, Local; Animals; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Humans; Levobupivacaine; Lidocaine; Morphine; Ropivacaine; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
PubMed: 35163815
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031894 -
Harm Reduction Journal Jan 2022Opioid use disorder is a public health problem and treatment variability, coverage and accessibility poses some challenges. The study's objective is to review the impact... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Opioid use disorder is a public health problem and treatment variability, coverage and accessibility poses some challenges. The study's objective is to review the impact of interim opioid agonist treatment (OAT), a short-term approach for patients awaiting standard OAT, in terms of treatment retention, access to standard OAT, quality of life and satisfaction with treatment.
METHOD
We conducted a systematic review searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL up to May 2020. Due to variability between studies and outcome measurements, we did not pool effect estimates and reported a narrative synthesis of findings rating their certainty according to GRADE.
RESULTS
We identified 266 unique records and included five randomized trials with some limitations in risk of bias and one observational study limited by selection bias. The studies assessed similar approaches to interim OAT but were compared to three different control conditions. Four studies reported on treatment retention at 4 months or less with no significant differences between interim OAT and waiting list or standard OAT. Two studies reported treatment retention at 12 months with no differences between interim OAT and standard OAT. Two trials assessed access to standard OAT and showed significant differences between interim OAT and waiting list for standard OAT. We rated the quality of evidence for these outcomes as moderate due to the impact of risk of bias. Data on quality of life or satisfaction with treatment was suboptimal.
CONCLUSIONS
Interim OAT is likely more effective than a waiting list for standard OAT in access to treatment, and it is probably as effective as standard OAT regarding treatment retention. PROSPERO registration CRD42018116269.
Topics: Analgesics, Opioid; Buprenorphine; Humans; Methadone; Observational Studies as Topic; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Quality of Life
PubMed: 35090475
DOI: 10.1186/s12954-022-00592-x -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021Opioid dependence has been a threat to public health for hundreds of years. With the increasing number of studies on acupuncture-related therapies for opioid dependence...
Opioid dependence has been a threat to public health for hundreds of years. With the increasing number of studies on acupuncture-related therapies for opioid dependence patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), its effect of acupuncture therapy in treating MMT patients remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a multiple-treatments meta-analysis, and incorporated both direct and indirect comparisons, in order to discover the most effective treatment for opioid dependence patients receiving MMT. Five English databases and three Chinese databases were searched from its inception to August 20, 2020, in order to compare the effects of acupuncture-related therapies and MMT, which was summarized as Western medicine (WM) in the following texts. The quality of studies was assessed according to Cochrane's risk of bias tool 5.1.0, and a pair-wise meta-analysis, cumulative meta-analysis, and the network meta-analysis was performed using the R software (Version 3.6.1) and STATA (Version 14.0). The primary outcome was the effective rate, which was calculated by the ratio of detoxifying patients to the total. The secondary outcome was the Modified Himmelsbach Opiate Withdrawal Scale (MHOWS). A total of 20 trials were included, which consisted of comparisons among WM, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and the four types of acupuncture, namely, manual acupuncture (MA), electro-acupuncture (EA), auricular acupuncture (AA), and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS). Though none of the trials were at low risk of bias. In the pair-wise meta-analysis, no statistically significant differences were observed in terms of the effective rate. Furthermore, MA was more efficacious than WM, EA, and TEAS in MHOWS, with mean differences (MDs) of (-8.59, 95% CI: -15.96 to -1.23, < 0.01), (-6.15, 95% CI: -9.45 to -2.85, < 0.05), and (-10.44, 95% CI: -16.11 to -4.77, < 0.05), respectively. In the network meta-analysis, MA was more effective than WM (RR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.99) on the effective rate, and (MD: -5.74, 95% CI: -11.60 to -0.10) on MHOWS. TEAS was more effective than WM (MD: -15.34, 95% CI: -27.34 to -3.46) on MHOWS. Synthetically, MA had the highest probability to rank first in treating opioid dependence. The existing evidence shows that acupuncture related-therapies may effectively be used for treating patients receiving MMT, and that manual acupuncture may be the best choice for opioid dependence among all kinds of acupuncture-related therapies. Nevertheless, reducing the relapse and promoting the recovery of opioid dependence need more efforts from not only the medical industry but also government support, security system, and educational popularization. To strengthen the assurance of acupuncture-related therapies in the treatment of opioid dependence, we expected that clinical trials with high quality would be conducted, to provide more confident evidence.
PubMed: 34966304
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.767613 -
Primary Health Care Research &... Dec 2021To assess the effectiveness of supported employment interventions for improving competitive employment in populations of people with conditions other than only severe...
AIM
To assess the effectiveness of supported employment interventions for improving competitive employment in populations of people with conditions other than only severe mental illness.
BACKGROUND
Supported employment interventions have been extensively tested in severe mental illness populations. These approaches may be beneficial outside of these populations.
METHODS
We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, JSTOR, PEDro, OTSeeker, and NIOSHTIC for trials including unemployed people with any condition and including severe mental illness if combined with other co-morbidities or other specific circumstances (e.g., homelessness). We excluded trials where inclusion was based on severe mental illness alone. Two reviewers independently assessed risk of bias (RoB v2.0) and four reviewers extracted data. We assessed rates of competitive employment as compared to traditional vocational rehabilitation or waiting list/services as usual.
FINDINGS
Ten randomised controlled trials (913 participants) were included. Supported employment was more effective than control interventions for improving competitive employment in seven trials: in people with affective disorders [risk ratio (RR) 10.61 (1.49, 75.38)]; mental disorders and justice involvement [RR 4.44 (1.36,14.46)]; veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [RR 2.73 (1.64, 4.54)]; formerly incarcerated veterans [RR 2.17 (1.09, 4.33)]; people receiving methadone treatment [RR 11.5 (1.62, 81.8)]; veterans with spinal cord injury at 12 months [RR 2.46 (1.16, 5.22)] and at 24 months [RR 2.81 (1.98, 7.37)]; and young people not in employment, education, or training [RR 5.90 (1.91-18.19)]. Three trials did not show significant benefits from supported employment: populations of workers with musculoskeletal injuries [RR 1.38 (1.00, 1.89)]; substance abuse [RR 1.85 (0.65, 5.41)]; and formerly homeless people with mental illness [RR 1.55 (0.76, 3.15)]. Supported employment interventions may be beneficial to people from more diverse populations than those with severe mental illness alone. Defining competitive employment and increasing (and standardising) measurement of non-vocational outcomes may help to improve research in this area.
Topics: Adolescent; Employment, Supported; Ill-Housed Persons; Humans; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Rehabilitation, Vocational; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 34879882
DOI: 10.1017/S1463423621000827 -
JAMA Pediatrics Mar 2022The ongoing overdose crisis continues to adversely affect adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and has led to numerous preventable deaths. Medications for opioid use...
IMPORTANCE
The ongoing overdose crisis continues to adversely affect adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and has led to numerous preventable deaths. Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, have the potential to reduce opioid use and associated harms; however, there are concerns that AYAs lack access to these potentially life-saving medications.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review peer-reviewed literature on MOUD access and associated factors to synthesize strategies that can improve MOUD access for AYAs who use opioids.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
The MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, and Global Dissertations & Theses databases were searched from database inception until May 3, 2021. English, French, Russian, or Spanish peer-reviewed studies that evaluated the availability, prescription receipt, or initiation of MOUD were eligible for inclusion.
FINDINGS
This systematic review identified 37 cohort (n = 17), cross-sectional (n = 15), and qualitative (n = 5) studies that accounted for 179 785 AYAs (mean [SD] age, 24.4 [3.9] years; 148 779 [85%] were female; 67 771 [84%] were White) and examined access to methadone (30 studies), buprenorphine (26 studies), and naltrexone (10 studies). Findings reinforce concerns that AYAs were less likely to access MOUD and suggest that adolescents were more likely to receive naltrexone or buprenorphine-naloxone, which have a lower potential for abuse, in comparison with young adults. This review also identified other factors that were associated with MOUD access, including criminal justice involvement, residing in the US South, living in a limited-income area, Black race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, suggesting ways in which treatment services may be improved to increase MOUD access and meet the treatment goals of AYAs.
CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE
This systematic review found gaps in MOUD access between AYAs and non-AYA populations in addition to differences in MOUD access between adolescents and young adults. Considering that existing clinical guidelines recommend the use of MOUD among AYAs, and in light of the increasing number of opioid toxicity deaths, there is a need to improve MOUD access among AYAs by reducing barriers to MOUD and providing AYAs with a continuum of health and social supports alongside MOUD. Future research into ways to encourage MOUD uptake among AYAs may improve the treatment and health outcomes for this population.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Analgesics, Opioid; Buprenorphine; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Male; Methadone; Naltrexone; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Young Adult
PubMed: 34870707
DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.4606 -
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Apr 2022The relative neurocognitive effects of the two most common opioid agonist treatments (OAT; buprenorphine and methadone) for opioid use disorder (OUD) are poorly...
Underrepresentation of diverse populations and clinical characterization in opioid agonist treatment research: A systematic review of the neurocognitive effects of buprenorphine and methadone treatment.
INTRODUCTION
The relative neurocognitive effects of the two most common opioid agonist treatments (OAT; buprenorphine and methadone) for opioid use disorder (OUD) are poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review is to examine the neurocognitive effects of OAT (buprenorphine and methadone) and the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of study samples.
METHODS
The research team queried PubMed, PsycINFO and Cochrane Reviews for articles (01/1980-01/2020) with terms related to neurocognitive testing in adults (age ≥ 18) prescribed OAT. The team extracted neurocognitive data and grouped them by domain (e.g., executive functioning, learning/memory), and assessed study quality.
RESULTS
The search retrieved 2341 abstracts, the team reviewed 278 full articles, and 32 met inclusion criteria. Of these, 31 were observational designs and one was an experimental design. Healthy controls performed better across neurocognitive domains than OAT-treated persons (buprenorphine or methadone). Compared to those with active OUD, OAT-treated persons had better neurocognition in various domains. However, in seven studies comparing buprenorphine- and methadone-treated persons, buprenorphine was associated with better neurocognition than was methadone, with moderate to large effect sizes in executive functioning, attention/working memory, and learning/memory. Additionally, OAT research underreports clinical characteristics and underrepresents Black and Latinx adults, as well as women.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings suggest that compared to active opioid use, both buprenorphine and methadone treatment are associated with better neurocognitive functioning, but buprenorphine is associated with better executive functioning, attention/working memory, and learning/memory. These findings should be interpreted with caution given widespread methodological heterogeneity, and limited representation of ethnoracially diverse adults and women. Rigorous longitudinal comparisons with more diverse, better characterized samples will help to inform treatment and policy recommendations for persons with OUD.
Topics: Adult; Analgesics, Opioid; Buprenorphine; Female; Humans; Methadone; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders
PubMed: 34857427
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108644 -
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice Nov 2021Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) display an interindividual variability in their response to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). A genetic basis may... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) display an interindividual variability in their response to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). A genetic basis may explain the variability in this response. However, no consensus has been reached regarding which genetic variants significantly contribute to MOUD outcomes.
OBJECTIVES
This systematic review aims to summarize genome-wide significant findings on MOUD outcomes and critically appraise the quality of the studies involved.
METHODS
Databases searched from inception until August 21st, 2020 include: MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL and Pre-CINAHL, GWAS Catalog and GWAS Central. The included studies had to be GWASs that assessed MOUD in an OUD population. All studies were screened in duplicate. The quality of the included studies was scored and assessed using the Q-Genie tool. Quantitative analysis, as planned in the protocol, was not feasible, so the studies were analyzed qualitatively.
RESULTS
Our search identified 7292 studies. Five studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included. However, only three studies reported results that met our significance threshold of p ≤ 1.0 × 10. In total, 43 genetic variants were identified. Variants corresponding to CNIH3 were reported to be associated with daily heroin injection in Europeans, OPRM1, TRIB2, and ZNF146 with methadone dose in African Americans, EYS with methadone dose in Europeans, and SPON1 and intergenic regions in chromosomes 9 and 3 with plasma concentrations of S-methadone, R-methadone, and R-EDDP, respectively, in Han Chinese.
LIMITATIONS
The limitations of this study include not being able to synthesize the data in a quantitative way and a conservative eligibility and data collection model.
CONCLUSION
The results from this systematic review will aid in highlighting significant genetic variants that can be replicated in future OUD pharmacogenetics research to ascertain their role in patient-specific MOUD outcomes. Systematic review registration number CRD42020169121.
Topics: Buprenorphine; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; Eye Proteins; Genome-Wide Association Study; Humans; Methadone; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
PubMed: 34838141
DOI: 10.1186/s13722-021-00278-y -
The International Journal on Drug Policy Feb 2022There has been a marked growth in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Iran in the past two decades with positive health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
There has been a marked growth in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Iran in the past two decades with positive health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of studies on the prevalence of non-prescribed methadone use, methadone use disorder, and methadone-related poisoning and mortality in Iran.
METHODS
We searched International and Iranian databases up to May 2020 and contacted relevant experts. The pooled proportions were estimated through random-effects model. Methadone-related adverse outcomes were evaluated over time.
RESULTS
Sixty-five studies were included. The pooled estimates of non-prescribed methadone use in the last 12-month were 2.7% (95%CI: 0.9-5.4) and 0.1% (95%CI: 0.03-0.2) in the male and female general population, respectively. Among people who use drugs, 8.4% reported daily non-prescribed use in 2018. Four heterogeneous studies in drug treatment centers reported the existence of treatment-seeking for methadone use disorder. Methadone was responsible for 10.4% (95%CI: 4.5-18.3) of cases of acute poisoning in adults and 16.0% (95%CI: 9.3-24.1) in children. Methadone was reported as a cause of death in 53.5% of substance-related deaths referred to the Legal Medicine Organization while being the only cause in 35.8% of all cases.
CONCLUSION
Non-prescribed use of methadone in the general population is much less than opiates and some other available prescription opioids, like tramadol. However, notwithstanding the large and successful MMT program in Iran, increasing trends in methadone-related poisoning and deaths pose serious public health concerns. There is an urgent need to explore these fatal and non-fatal poisoning cases and implement policies to curb the harms associated with methadone use.
Topics: Adult; Analgesics, Opioid; Child; Female; Humans; Iran; Male; Methadone; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Public Health
PubMed: 34826790
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103529