Research News Roundup: August 21, 2025

Journal: Health Care Management Science, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s10729-025-09716-8

Authors: Qiushi Chen, Robert Newton, & Paul Griffin

Abstract:

Multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement agreements have been reached with pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors to address their liability in contributing to the opioid epidemic in the United States. These agreements stipulate that within the state, the settlement funds must be directly allocated to local government (e.g., counties) and used for abatement activities to remediate the harm of the opioid epidemic in communities. This naturally leads to an important question of how the funds should be distributed to meet the diverse needs of the counties consistently across all counties to be deemed fair. Although there exist various definitions of fairness in the literature, it remains unclear how to empirically quantify the fairness of settlement allocation based on data, which is crucial for developing evidence-based allocation policies. To fill this gap, we define two allocation fairness measures, deviation and maximum regret, and formulate the fair settlement allocation as convex optimization problems. To further enhance the interpretability of the allocation policies, we restrict the allocation to a weighted sum of the given empirical metrics. We apply our analytical framework in a case study of the settlement allocation in Pennsylvania using real-world empirical metrics. We identify the frontiers of the non-dominated allocation policies between min-deviation and minimax-regret allocations, which dominate all alpha fairness-based and formula-based allocation policies. All allocation policies show lower fairness (with higher deviation or maximum regret) in counties that are rural, low-income, and with lower-ranking health factors. The price of interpretability is more significant in terms of maximum regret compared with deviation.

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Journal: JAMA Network Open, 2025, doi: 10.1001/jama networkopen .2025.25222

Authors: Yasna Rostam-Abadi, Scarlett Wang, Carla King, Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello, Gretchen Van Wye, Ellenie Tuazon, … Jennifer McNeely

Abstract:

Importance: With acute care utilization and mortality rates increasing among people with opioid use disorder, hospital addiction consult services can provide an important touchpoint for care, potentially leading to improved outcomes.

Objective: To study the effectiveness of interprofessional hospital addiction consultation services on postdischarge acute care utilization and mortality.

Design, setting, and participants: In this pragmatic stepped-wedge cluster randomized implementation and effectiveness (hybrid type 1) clinical trial, 6 New York City public hospitals were randomized to an intervention start date, and outcomes were compared during treatment as usual (TAU) and intervention conditions. Participants included adults with hospitalizations identified in Medicaid claims data between October 2017 and January 2021. Eligible patients had an admission or discharge diagnosis of opioid use disorder or opioid poisoning or adverse effects, were hospitalized at least 1 night in a medical or surgical inpatient unit, and were not receiving medication for opioid use disorder before hospitalization.

Intervention: Hospitals implemented the Consult for Addiction Treatment and Care in Hospitals (CATCH) program, an interprofessional inpatient addiction consult service providing specialty care for substance use disorders, with teams consisting of a medical clinician, social worker or addiction counselor, and peer counselor.

Main outcomes and measures: Acute care utilization (hospitalizations and emergency department [ED] visits) and mortality rates (all-cause deaths, overdose deaths, and opioid-involved overdose deaths) 1 year after hospital discharge. Data for the eligible patients were analyzed July 2023 to September 2024.

Results: In total, 1355 eligible admissions were identified (968 [71.4%] men; mean [SD] age, 46.6 [12.4] years). A majority of patients (835 [61.5%]) had at least 1 subsequent hospitalization or ED visit. There were 113 deaths, including 34 overdose deaths (30.1%), of which 28 (82.4%) involved opioids. ED admissions were lower in the intervention period compared with TAU (incidence rate ratio, 0.79 [95% CI, 0.72-0.88]; P < .001). There were no statistically significant differences between CATCH and TAU periods in numbers of hospitalizations (incidence rate ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.87-1.13]) or mortality (eg, hazard ratio for all-cause death, 1.14 [95% CI, 0.98-1.92]).

Conclusions and relevance: In this prespecified secondary analysis of a cluster randomized clinical trial, postdischarge ED visits decreased with the CATCH program, highlighting the potential of hospital-based addiction consult services to address needs of patients with opioid use. Nonetheless, high rates of acute care utilization and mortality persisted, underscoring the need for comprehensive care strategies that extend beyond the hospital walls, and addressing the complex health and social needs of individuals with opioid use.

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Journal: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 2025, doi.org/10.1186/ s13722-025-00587-6

Authors: Olivia Gaddum, Stefan Gutwinski, Alva Lütt, Daa Un Moon, Anne Beck, Nadja Ruckser, Alessandro Turno, Robert Schöneck, Felix Bermpohl & Nikolaos Tsamitros

Abstract:

Background: Virtual reality (VR) technology has been increasingly employed to develop innovative treatments for Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and overcome limitations of currents therapies. However, previous research in this field has yielded inconclusive results. To improve the quality and comparability of studies, a critical analysis of the research methodology employed in this field is necessary.

Objectives: This scoping review aims to provide an overview of existing studies with a focus on their objectives, methodology, treatment paradigms, and VR design characteristics.

Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted in the electronic databases MEDLINE (PubMed), APA PsychInfo, APA PsychArticles, PSYINDEX (EBSCOhost), Scopus, Web of Science and by search in the reference list of included publication to identify relevant publications. Clinical studies and study protocols using VR for the assessment or treatment of patients with AUD were included.

Results: The literature search yielded 1.197 studies, of which 22 met the inclusion criteria. Completed trials (n = 16) and study protocols (n = 6) were included. The majority of the studies (n = 19) used a VR cue exposure paradigm to induce craving. The studies can be classified either as assessment (n = 9) or treatment studies (n = 13). The duration (7–60 min) and number of applied sessions (1–13) varied significantly depending on the type of study. Craving outcomes were based on subjective and physiological measurements. All studies used alcoholic beverages and VR scenarios such as bars, pubs, parties and restaurants, with additional scenarios varying, except for one study using a hospital and subway scenario as aversive scenarios. Moreover, synchronized olfactory stimuli were frequently used.

Conclusions: Despite the heterogeneity of VR software features and VR interventions, it was possible to identify a similarity within the main VR scenarios employed, as well as consistent positive results concerning the induction of subjective craving by alcohol-associated VR cues. While VR interventions for AUD show methodological progress, future research should adopt standardized protocols, include objective psychophysiological outcomes, and evaluate long-term efficacy and feasibility in clinical settings. Integration of emerging VR paradigms and technologies may further enhance the therapeutic potential.

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Journal: Preventive Medicine Reports, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr. 2025.103210

Authors: Kellie-Anne Bélisle, Anne-Marie Auger, Catherine Hudon, Isabelle Dufour, Roni Deli Houssein, Rasoamiadana Volanirina Rasolofomamonjy, & Magaly Brodeur

Abstract:

Objectives: As a growing body of research has linked cannabis consumption and problematic Internet use (PIU), more insight is needed to interpret this association. This scoping review aims to summarize the available literature on PIU and cannabis consumption and to underlie future avenues of research.

Methods: We conducted an electronic search including all papers published from database inception until May 2023, using keywords related to PIU and cannabis use in the following databases: Academic Search Complete, APA PsychInfo, PubMed, SocINDEX, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Studies eligible for this review had to meet the following criteria: (1) the primary theme had to be related to both PIU and cannabis consumption, (2) articles were published in a peer-reviewed journal, (3) articles were available in English or French, and (4) articles were not systematic reviews.

Results: After screening 12,165 articles, 48 articles were retained for full-text reading and seven articles were included in this review.

Conclusion: The available articles reveal a potential association between cannabis use and PIU, though operationalization heterogeneity challenges a conclusive interpretation of the results. Further research with improved measurement consistency is required to draw more robust conclusions.

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