Predictors of illicit substance dependence among individuals with alcohol dependence

Patterns and Correlates of Polysubstance Use Among Individuals With Severe Alcohol Use Disorder

AIM

The present study examined patterns and correlates of polysubstance use among individuals with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD).

METHODS

Participants were 2785 individuals (63% female; mean age = 43 years, range = 18-78 years) from the Genes, Addiction and Personality Study. All participants met lifetime criteria for severe AUD (6+ symptoms). We used latent class analysis to identify patterns of frequency of lifetime use for cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, stimulants, sedatives, opioids and hallucinogens. A variety of demographic and behavioral correlates of latent class membership were tested in univariable and multivariable models.

RESULTS

A five-class solution was selected: extended range polysubstance use (24.5%); cigarette and marijuana use (18.8%); 'testers,' characterized by high probabilities of smoking 100 or more cigarettes, using marijuana 6+ times, and trying the remaining substances 1-5 times (12.3%); moderate range polysubstance use (17.1%) and minimal use (reference class; 27.3%). In univariable analyses, all potential correlates were related to latent class membership. In the multivariable model, associations with gender, race/ethnicity, age of onset for alcohol problems, dimensions of impulsivity, depressive symptoms, antisocial behavior and family history density of alcohol problems remained significant, though the pattern and strength of associations differed across classes. For instance, sensation-seeking, lack of premeditation and family history were uniquely associated with membership in the extended range polysubstance use class.

CONCLUSION

Patterns of polysubstance use are differentially related to demographic and behavioral factors among individuals with severe AUD. Assessing use across multiple substances may inform the selection of targets for treatment and prevention.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Psychometric Properties of Alcohol-Related Behaviors in the USA

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol-related behaviors are often examined using surveys assessing participants' self-report of attitudes/actions. However, racial/ethnic differences exist in scale construction and evaluation, and surveys evaluating alcohol behaviors lack invariance across ethnic groups. These dissimilarities may be due to deep-rooted differences in ethnic classification of unhealthy substance use behaviors.

METHODS

We examined factor structure of "Number of days per month drank alcohol in past 12 months," "Number of days had one or more drinks in past 30 days," and "Number of days had four/five or more drinks in past 30 days," administered during the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Factorial invariance was examined across 12- to 17-year-old White, Black/African American, Asian American, and Hispanic/Latinx boys and girls endorsing alcohol use. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis statistically determined whether the factor structure was invariant across groups.

RESULTS

The alcohol scale lacked invariance across all groups, indicating racial/ethnic group identification is related to alcohol-related cognitions.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychometric properties of scales assessing alcohol-related behaviors generalized across racial/ethnic groups require evaluation.

The Increasing Economic Burden with Additional Steps of Pharmacotherapy in Major Depressive Disorder

OBJECTIVES

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and serious disorder with significant impact on patients and families. The goal of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the economic burden among patients with MDD stratified by number of treatment lines needed for episode resolution.

METHODS

Truven Health Analytics MarketScan^® claims data were used to identify US patients (≥ 18 years) who were diagnosed with MDD and started on an antidepressant between 2013 and 2017. A generalized linear model estimated direct and employment-related costs for the first 12 months following initiation of treatment across cohorts with increasing number of lines of MDD pharmacotherapy. Analyses were adjusted for demographics and clinical factors.

RESULTS

A total of 73,597 patients with MDD comprising the commercial (n = 66,459) and Medicare (n = 7138) populations met selection criteria. Patients who completed treatment for their episode with a single line of antidepressant had the lowest total adjusted direct costs (commercial $9975; Medicare $14,628) followed by those who completed with two lines (commercial $11,723; Medicare $15,526) and those treated with three or more lines of antidepressant regimens (commercial $21,259; Medicare $20,964). Patients who completed treatment with two lines as opposed to one incurred significantly higher direct costs (commercial +$1748, p < 0.0001; Medicare +$898, p = 0.0092). Patients who completed treatment with one line had the lowest employment-related costs compared to other groups.

CONCLUSIONS

There was an increased economic burden associated with delay of episode resolution as early as the second line compared to the first line in MDD.

Adolescent Sexual Debut and Initiation into New-Type Drug Use among a Sample of Young Adults

We examined the association between adolescent sexual debut and age at new-type drug initiation among a sample of young adult new-type drug users. A total of 276 participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Shanghai, China. The analyses were restricted to a total of 201 participants aged between 18 and 30 years. The average age at sexual debut and age at first new-type drug use were 18.8 and 20.9 years, respectively. About 94% of participants reported having sexual experience (n=188); of those, 137 (72.9%) had sexual debut before they first used new-type drugs, while 32 (17.0%) initiated both events at the same age. After adjustment for age, income, education, and sexual orientation, adolescent sexual debut was independently associated with younger age at new-type drug initiation. Adolescent sexual debut is associated with early onset of new-type drug use. Our findings underscore the importance of implementing sex-education programs for adolescents in schools in China.

Long-term cannabis abuse and early-onset cannabis use increase the severity of cocaine withdrawal during detoxification and rehospitalization rates due to cocaine dependence

BACKGROUND

Long-term and early-onset cannabis consumption are implicated in subsequent substance- related problems. The aim of this follow-up study was to investigate whether these patterns of cannabis use could impact cocaine withdrawal severity and cocaine craving intensity during detoxification. In addition, we investigated their impact in the rehospitalization rates due to cocaine dependence 2.5 years after detoxification assessment.

METHODS

The sample was composed of 93 female cocaine-dependent inpatients who were enrolled in an inpatient detoxification unit. Cocaine withdrawal symptoms were measured at the 4th, 9th and 14th days of detoxification using the cocaine selective severity assessment (CSSA). Data on the age of first years of drug use - alcohol, cannabis and cocaine - and the years of substance abuse were obtained using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6). Other relevant clinical variables were also investigated, including a 2.5 years follow-up assessment of number of rehospitalization due to cocaine dependence.

RESULTS

Early-onset cannabis use and long-term cannabis abuse were associated with an increase instead of a reduction in the severity of cocaine withdrawal symptoms and craving intensity during detoxification. In addition, long-term cannabis abuse predicted higher number of rehospitalization due to cocaine dependence after 2.5 years of the first detoxification assessment.

CONCLUSIONS

Early-onset cannabis use and long-term cannabis abuse are associated with a worse detoxification treatment response. Our findings may help to identify patients who will struggle more severely to control cocaine withdrawal syndrome during early drug abstinence, and indicate that cannabis use prior to cocaine withdrawal should be considered an adverse factor.

Treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders

There is a significant need for advanced understanding of treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Approximately half of individuals seeking SUD treatment meet criteria for current PTSD, and individuals with co-occurring PTSD-SUD tend to have poorer treatment outcomes compared with those without such comorbidity. However, there is not sufficient empirical evidence to determine a best course of treatment for these individuals. This paper provides a review of the literature relevant to the treatment of co-occurring PTSD-SUD. To date, treatment studies have focused primarily on non-exposure-based psychosocial treatments, exposure-based psychosocial treatments, and medication trials. The most promising outcome data thus far are for psychosocial treatments that incorporate an exposure therapy component; however, further research is needed, particularly as related to how best to implement these approaches in real-world treatment settings.

Nicotine dependence among clients receiving publicly funded substance abuse treatment

BACKGROUND

Smoking and nicotine dependence (ND) are prevalent among substance abusers but little is known about characteristics of ND in this population. This information would help identify those most in need of smoking cessation programs. This study evaluated the associations of socio-demographic, tobacco- and substance use-related, and health/mental health factors to ND in adults receiving publicly funded substance abuse treatment in Tennessee.

METHODS

All Tennessee residents who received federal block grant-funded substance abuse treatment during July-December, 2004 were invited to participate in a 6 month post-intake telephone follow-up interview. Socio-demographic characteristics, perceived health and mental health, tobacco use history and patterns, and ND, assessed by the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND), were obtained at follow-up. Alcohol and illicit drug use and smoking status prior to treatment were assessed at intake. This paper analyzes data for 855 clients who were current cigarette smokers at both intake and follow-up.

RESULTS

Sixty three percent of smokers were ND (FTND score ≥ 4). Correlates of ND included older age, poorer self-rated overall health, earlier age of onset of cigarette smoking and substance abuse, fewer smoking quit attempts in past year, single substance use (alcohol or illicit drug, vs. multiple substances) at intake, use of opiates/narcotics and sedatives, and past month self-reported depression.

CONCLUSION

ND was highly prevalent and correlated with specific types and patterns of substance abuse and depression. These results suggest that intensive smoking cessation interventions, involving behavioral support, pharmacotherapy, and mood management, are needed to effectively assist this population.

A model of school problems, academic failure, alcohol initiation, and the relationship to adult heroin injection

The current study uses structural equation modeling to investigate factors associated with alcohol initiation and injection heroin use. Baseline data from the NEURO-HIV Epidemiologic Study in Baltimore, Maryland, were used. Participants were 404 injection heroin users (M(age) = 32.72) with a history of regular injection in their lifetime. Latent variables were created for self-reported school problems and academic failure. The final model indicated that greater school problems were associated with earlier alcohol initiation (ß = -0.22, p < .001) and earlier alcohol initiation was associated with greater frequency of recent heroin use (ß = -0.12, p < .05). Academic failure was directly related to greater frequency of recent heroin injection (ß = 0.15, p < .01). The results expand research investigating the relationship between adolescent behavior and illicit drug use in adulthood.

Early onset of drug and polysubstance use as predictors of injection drug use among adult drug users

Early onset of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use is an indicator of later substance use problems in adulthood such as alcohol or other drug dependence. This paper seeks to address the association between early onset alcohol, marijuana, cigarette, and polysubstance use with injection drug use among recent illicit drug users. The current study used baseline data from the Baltimore site of the NEURO-HIV Epidemiologic Study, an investigation of neuropsychological and social-behavioral risk factors of HIV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C among both injection and non-injection drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. The present study used a subset (N=651) of the larger parent study that identified as White or Black, and reported any drug use in the past 6 months. In the full sample slightly more than half (52.5%) of study participants were IDUs. IDUs differed from non-IDUs on age of initiation for cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol, with IDUs initiating the use of all three substances significantly earlier than non-IDUs. IDUs also had significantly greater proportions of early onset of alcohol (χ(2)=19.71, p<.01), cigarette (χ(2)=11.05, p<.01), marijuana (χ(2)=10.83, p<.01), and polysubstance use (χ(2)=23.48, p<.01) than non-IDUs. After adjusting for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, only participants identified as early onset alcohol users (AOR=1.47, 95% CI: 1.00-2.18) and early onset polysubstance users (AOR=1.62, 95% CI: 1.10-2.38) were more likely to have IDU status than those who reported initiating substance use later. IDU status was then stratified by race/ethnicity. After controlling for age and gender, only early polysubstance use was a significant predictor of IDU status for Whites (AOR=2.06, 95% CI: 1.07-3.93). Consistent with literature on early substance initiation and later illicit substance use, early onset of alcohol and polysubstance use is an important risk factor for IDU in adulthood.

A longitudinal study of risk factors for incident drug use in adults: findings from a representative sample of the US population

OBJECTIVE

To examine baseline mental disorders and other correlates among people who have not previously used drugs as potential risk factors for incident drug use at 3-years' follow-up.

METHOD

Data came from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (commonly referred to as the NESARC) Wave 2 (2004 to 2005; n = 34 653), a longitudinal nationally representative survey of mental illness in community-dwelling adults. The study group consisted of people who reported no history of any illicit drug use or prescription drug misuse at Wave 1 (2001 to 2002). Logistic regression analyses were used to compare people with first-episode drug use at Wave 2 (n = 1145) to those who remained abstinent (n = 25 790) across various Wave 1 correlates, including sociodemographic factors, mental disorders (including alcohol use disorders and nicotine dependence), childhood adversity, and family history of substance use disorders.

RESULTS

All measures of childhood adversity were associated with an increased risk of incident drug use, as were alcohol or drug problems in first-degree relatives. In models adjusted for childhood adversity and a family history of addiction, a pre-existing mood disorder (AOR 1.31; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.64), personality disorder (AOR 1.82; 95% CI 1.50 to 2.20), previous nicotine dependence (AOR 1.41; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.83), and alcohol abuse or dependence (AOR 1.96; 95% CI 1.48 to 2.60) were independently associated with new-onset drug use at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Specific mental disorders independently increase the risk of progression to incident drug use among people who were previously abstinent. Early-life adversities and addiction in family members accounts for some, but not all, of this observed relation.

Probability and predictors of transition from first use to dependence on nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine: results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC)

BACKGROUND

This study aims to estimate general and racial-ethnic specific cumulative probability of developing dependence among nicotine, alcohol, cannabis or cocaine users, and to identify predictors of transition to substance dependence.

METHODS

Analyses were done for the subsample of lifetime nicotine (n=15,918), alcohol (n=28,907), cannabis (n=7389) or cocaine (n=2259) users who participated in the first and second wave of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Discrete-time survival analyses were implemented to estimate the cumulative probability of transitioning from use to dependence and to identify predictors of transition to dependence.

RESULTS

The cumulative probability estimate of transition to dependence was 67.5% for nicotine users, 22.7% for alcohol users, 20.9% for cocaine users, and 8.9% for cannabis users. Half of the cases of dependence on nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and cocaine were observed approximately 27, 13, 5 and 4 years after use onset, respectively. Significant racial-ethnic differences were observed in the probability of transition to dependence across the four substances. Several predictors of dependence were common across the four substances assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

Transition from use to dependence was highest for nicotine users, followed by cocaine, alcohol and cannabis users. Transition to cannabis or cocaine dependence occurred faster than transition to nicotine or alcohol dependence. The existence of common predictors of transition dependence across substances suggests that shared mechanisms are involved. The increased risk of transition to dependence among individuals from minorities or those with psychiatric or dependence comorbidity highlights the importance of promoting outreach and treatment of these populations.