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Stopka TJ, Estadt AT, Leichtling G, Schleicher JC, Mixson LS, Bresett J, Romo E, Dowd P, Walters SM, Young AM, Zule W, Friedmann PD, Go VF, Baker R, Fredericksen RJ. Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment among people who use drugs in the rural United States: A qualitative, multi-site study. Soc Sci Med 2024; 346:116660. [PMID: 38484417 PMCID: PMC10997882 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 2020, 2.8 million people required substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in nonmetropolitan or 'rural' areas in the U.S. Among this population, only 10% received SUD treatment from a specialty facility, and 1 in 500 received medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD). We explored the context surrounding barriers to SUD treatment in the rural United States. METHODS We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews from 2018 to 2019 to assess barriers to SUD treatment among people who use drugs (PWUD) across seven rural U.S. study sites. Using the social-ecological model (SEM), we examined individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy factors contributing to perceived barriers to SUD treatment. We employed deductive and inductive coding and analytical approaches to identify themes. We also calculated descriptive statistics for participant characteristics and salient themes. RESULTS Among 304 participants (55% male, mean age 36 years), we identified barriers to SUD treatment in rural areas across SEM levels. At the individual/interpersonal level, relevant themes included: fear of withdrawal, the need to "get things in order" before entering treatment, close-knit communities and limited confidentiality, networks and settings that perpetuated drug use, and stigma. Organizational-level barriers included: strict facility rules, treatment programs managed like corrections facilities, lack of gender-specific treatment programs, and concerns about jeopardizing employment. Community-level barriers included: limited availability of treatment in local rural communities, long distances and limited transportation, waitlists, and a lack of information about treatment options. Policy-level themes included insurance challenges and system-imposed barriers such as arrest and incarceration. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight multi-level barriers to SUD treatment in rural U.S. communities. Salient barriers included the need to travel long distances to treatment, challenges to confidentiality due to small, close-knit communities where people are highly familiar with one another, and high-threshold treatment program practices. Our findings point to the need to facilitate the elimination of treatment barriers at each level of the SEM in rural America.
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Affiliation(s)
- T J Stopka
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - A T Estadt
- Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | - J C Schleicher
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medicine, Madison, WI, USA
| | - L S Mixson
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - J Bresett
- Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Dept of Public Health, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - E Romo
- Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - P Dowd
- Chan Medical School-Baystate, University of Massachusetts, Springfield, MA, USA
| | - S M Walters
- New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - A M Young
- College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - W Zule
- RTI International, Research Triangle, NC, USA
| | - P D Friedmann
- Chan Medical School-Baystate, University of Massachusetts, Springfield, MA, USA
| | - V F Go
- University, of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - R Baker
- Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, OR, USA
| | - R J Fredericksen
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
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Shrestha S, Lindstrom MR, Harris D, Rock P, Srinivasan S, Pustz JC, Bayly R, Stopka TJ. Spatial access to buprenorphine-waivered prescribers in the HEALing communities study: Enhanced 2-step floating catchment area analyses in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Kentucky. JOURNAL OF SUBSTANCE USE AND ADDICTION TREATMENT 2023; 150:209077. [PMID: 37211155 PMCID: PMC10330859 DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2023.209077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The opioid overdose epidemic continues to impact a large swath of the population in the US. Medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD) are an effective resource to combat the epidemic; however, there is limited research on MOUD treatment access that accounts for both supply of and demand for services. We aimed to examine access to buprenorphine prescribers in the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) Wave 2 communities in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Kentucky during 2021, and the association between buprenorphine access and opioid-related incidents, specifically fatal overdoses and opioid-related responses by emergency medical services (EMS). METHODS We calculated Enhanced 2-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) accessibility indices for each state, as well as Wave 2 communities in each state, based on the location of providers (buprenorphine-waivered clinicians from the US Drug Enforcement Agency Active Registrants database), population-weighted centroids at the census block group level, and catchment areas defined by the state or community's average commute time. In advance of intervention initiation, we quantified the opioid-related risk environment of communities. We assessed gaps in services by using bivariate Local Moran's I analysis, incorporating accessibility indices and opioid-related incident data. RESULTS Massachusetts Wave 2 HCS communities had the highest rates of buprenorphine prescribers per 1000 patients (median: 165.8) compared to Kentucky (38.8) and Ohio (40.1). While urban centers in all three states had higher E2SFCA index scores compared to rural communities, we observed that suburban communities often had limited access. Through bivariate Local Moran's I analysis, we identified numerous locations with low buprenorphine access surrounded by high opioid-related incidents, particularly in communities that surrounded Boston, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; and Louisville, Kentucky. CONCLUSION Rural communities demonstrated a great need for additional access to buprenorphine prescribers. However, policymakers should also direct attention toward suburban communities that have experienced significant increases in opioid-related incidents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shikhar Shrestha
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, United States of America
| | - Megan R Lindstrom
- Department of Geography, Ohio State University, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States of America
| | - Daniel Harris
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, Lee T. Todd Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States of America; Institute of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, College of Pharmacy, Lee T. Todd Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States of America
| | - Peter Rock
- Institute for Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States of America
| | - Sumeeta Srinivasan
- Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 97 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA, United States of America
| | - Jennifer C Pustz
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, United States of America
| | - Ric Bayly
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, United States of America
| | - Thomas J Stopka
- Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, United States of America; Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine, 35 Kneeland St., Boston, MA 02111, United States of America; Department of Community Health, Tufts University, 574 Boston Ave, Medford, MA, United States of America; Department Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University, 97 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA, United States of America.
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Lotfata A, Georganos S. Spatial machine learning for predicting physical inactivity prevalence from socioecological determinants in Chicago, Illinois, USA. JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHICAL SYSTEMS 2023:1-21. [PMID: 37358962 PMCID: PMC10241140 DOI: 10.1007/s10109-023-00415-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The increase in physical inactivity prevalence in the USA has been associated with neighborhood characteristics. While several studies have found an association between neighborhood and health, the relative importance of each component related to physical inactivity or how this value varies geographically (i.e., across different neighborhoods) remains unexplored. This study ranks the contribution of seven socioecological neighborhood factors to physical inactivity prevalence in Chicago, Illinois, using machine learning models at the census tract level, and evaluates their predictive capabilities. First, we use geographical random forest (GRF), a recently proposed nonlinear machine learning regression method that assesses each predictive factor's spatial variation and contribution to physical inactivity prevalence. Then, we compare the predictive performance of GRF to geographically weighted artificial neural networks, another recently proposed spatial machine learning algorithm. Our results suggest that poverty is the most important determinant in the Chicago tracts, while on the other hand, green space is the least important determinant in the rise of physical inactivity prevalence. As a result, interventions can be designed and implemented based on specific local circumstances rather than broad concepts that apply to Chicago and other large cities. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10109-023-00415-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aynaz Lotfata
- School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Stefanos Georganos
- Geomatics, Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
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Pustz J, Shrestha S, Newsky S, Taylor M, Fowler L, Van Handel M, Lingwall C, Stopka TJ. Opioid-Involved Overdose Vulnerability in Wyoming: Measuring Risk in a Rural Environment. Subst Use Misuse 2022; 57:1720-1731. [PMID: 35975873 DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2022.2112229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Between 2009 and 2019 opioid-involved fatal overdose rates increased by 45% and the average opioid dispensing rate in Wyoming was higher than the national average. The opioid crisis is shaped by a complex set of socioeconomic, geopolitical, and health-related variables. We conducted a vulnerability assessment to identify Wyoming counties at higher risk of opioid-related harm, factors associated with this risk, and areas in need of overdose treatment access to inform priority responses. METHODS We compiled 2016 to 2018 county-level aggregated and de-identified data. We created risk maps and ran spatial analyses in a geographic information system to depict the spatial distribution of overdose-related measures. We used addresses of opioid treatment programs and buprenorphine providers to develop drive-time maps and ran 2-step floating catchment area analyses to measure accessibility to treatment. We used a straightforward and replicable weighted ranks approach to calculate final county vulnerability scores and rankings from most to least vulnerable. FINDINGS We found Hot Springs, Carbon, Natrona, Fremont, and Sweetwater Counties to be most vulnerable to opioid-involved overdose fatalities. Opioid prescribing rates were highest in Hot Springs County (97 per 100 persons), almost two times the national average (51 per 100 persons). Statewide, there were over 90 buprenorphine-waivered providers, however accessibility to these clinicians was limited to urban centers. Most individuals lived further than a four-hour round-trip drive to the nearest methadone treatment program. CONCLUSIONS Identifying Wyoming counties with high opioid overdose vulnerabilities and limited access to overdose treatment can inform public health and harm reduction responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Pustz
- Department of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Shikhar Shrestha
- Department of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | | | - Melissa Taylor
- Public Health Division, Wyoming Department of Health, Cheyenne, WY
| | - Leslie Fowler
- Public Health Division, Wyoming Department of Health, Cheyenne, WY
| | | | - Cailyn Lingwall
- Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Atlanta, GA
| | - Thomas J Stopka
- Department of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
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