Research News Roundup: October 19, 2023

Journal: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.09.028

Authors: Genevieve Mylocopos, Erica Wennberg, Anna Reiter, Andréa Hébert-Losier, Kristian B. Filion, Sarah B. Windle, Genevieve Gore, … Mark J. Eisenberg

Abstract:

Introduction: Many non-regulatory interventions targeting children and youth have been implemented at three levels: directed at the individual (e.g., interactive video games), delivered to students at school (e.g., campus bans), and launched in the community (e.g., mass media campaigns). This systematic review aims to synthesize the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing e-cigarette initiation among children and youth.

Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for papers published between January 1st, 2004 to September 1st, 2022 that reported more than one outcome on vaping prevention among individuals aged less than 21-years-old: vaping prevalence/incidence, initiation intentions, knowledge/attitudes, and other tobacco product use prevalence/initiation intentions. Interventions were at the individual, school, or community level. The risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I and RoB 1.

Results: Thirty-nine publications met the eligibility criteria. Fourteen individually-based (four parental monitoring, three video games, two text messages, three graphic message themes, two healthcare), 19 school-based (14 educational and skill interventions, five vape-free policies/bans), and six community-based (three social media, three mass media campaigns) interventions were reported. E-cigarette initiation prevention was observed with high perceived parental monitoring; however, the cross-sectional study designs precluded causal claims. There was promising but limited evidence that social-emotional skills curricula and peer leader programming prevented vaping initiation.

Discussion: Some individual- and school-based interventions showed promise for preventing e-cigarette initiation among children and youth.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum, 2023, doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.3274

Author: David Powell

Abstract:

Importance: Educational attainment in the US is associated with life expectancy. As the opioid crisis worsens, it is critical to understand how overdose death rate trends evolve across education groups.

Objective: To investigate the association between educational attainment and overdose death rates, with emphasis on trends during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study used National Vital Statistics System Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death data describing overdose death rates in the US by educational attainment from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2021, with a focus on 2018 to 2021. Overdose deaths were aggregated by year and educational level for decedents aged 25 years or older.

Exposure: Educational attainment, categorized as no high school (HS) diploma, HS diploma (or General Educational Development) but no college, some college but no bachelor’s degree, and bachelor’s degree or more.

Main outcomes and measures: The main outcomes were rates of all overdose deaths, overdose deaths involving opioids, and overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.

Results: Of 912 057 overdose deaths with education information from 2000 to 2021 (mean [SD] age at death, 44.9 [12.3] years; 64.1% male), there were 625 400 deaths (68.6%) among individuals with no college education and 286 657 deaths (31.4%) among those with at least some college. The overdose death rate was 19.9 per 100 000 population. From 2018 to 2021, there were 301 557 overdose deaths, including 58 319 (19.3%) among individuals without an HS diploma, 153 603 (50.9%) among people with an HS diploma, 64 682 (21.4%) among individuals with some college, and 24 953 (8.3%) among individuals with a bachelor’s degree. There were 3324 overdose deaths (1.1%) among American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, 2968 (1.0%) among Asian American or Pacific Islander individuals, 49 152 (16.3%) among Black individuals, 31 703 (10.5%) among Hispanic individuals, 211 359 (70.1%) among White individuals, and 3051 (1.0%) among multiracial individuals. From 2018 to 2021, the overdose death rate was 33.4 per 100 000 population, the opioid-related overdose death rate was 24.2 per 100 000 population, and the synthetic opioid overdose death rate was 19.1 per 100 000 population. From 2018 to 2021, the overdose death rate for those without a HS diploma increased by 35.4 per 100 000 population compared with 1.5 per 100 000 population for those with a bachelor’s degree. This differential growth was primarily due to increased rates of death involving synthetic opioids.

Conclusions and relevance: In this cross-sectional study, lower educational attainment was found to be associated with higher growth in overdose deaths. As the opioid crisis has transitioned to fentanyl and polysubstance use, overdose deaths have become more prevalent in groups with lower socioeconomic status, potentially exacerbating existing life-expectancy disparities.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.

Journal: Social Science & Medicine, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116254

Authors: Heiko Schmengler, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, Wilma A. M. Vollebergh, Joëlle A. Pasman, Catharina A. Hartman, Gonneke W. J. M. Stevens, … Margot Peeters

Abstract:

Recent studies suggest that smoking and lower educational attainment may have genetic influences in common. However, little is known about the mechanisms through which genetics contributes to educational inequalities in adolescent and young adult smoking. Common genetic liabilities may underlie cognitive skills associated with both smoking and education, such as IQ and effortful control, in line with indirect health-related selection explanations. Additionally, by affecting cognitive skills, genes may predict educational trajectories and hereby adolescents’ social context, which may be associated with smoking, consistent with social causation explanations. Using data from the Dutch TRAILS Study (N = 1581), we estimated the extent to which polygenic scores (PGSs) for ever smoking regularly (PGSSMOK) and years of education (PGSEDU) predict IQ and effortful control, measured around age 11, and whether these cognitive skills then act as shared predictors of smoking and educational level around age 16, 19, 22, and 26. Second, we assessed if educational level mediated associations between PGSs and smoking. Both PGSs were associated with lower effortful control, and PGSEDU also with lower IQ. Lower IQ and effortful control, in turn, predicted having a lower educational level. However, neither of these cognitive skills were directly associated with smoking behaviour after controlling for covariates and PGSs. This suggests that IQ and effortful control are not shared predictors of smoking and education (i.e., no indirect health-related selection related to cognitive skills). Instead, PGSSMOK and PGSEDU, partly through their associations with lower cognitive skills, predicted selection into a lower educational track, which in turn was associated with more smoking, in line with social causation explanations. Our findings suggest that educational differences in the social context contribute to associations between genetic liabilities and educational inequalities in smoking.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.

Journal: Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.josat

Authors: Daniel Rutrick, Susan M. Learned, Brent Boyett, David Hassman, Sunita Shinde, & Yue Zhao

Abstract:

Background: Few studies investigate the natural history of patients on long-term treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). We evaluated the long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability experience of monthly extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR) in participants seeking treatment for OUD, via integrated analysis of phase 3 studies.

Methods: Study 1 was a 24-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of participants receiving monthly injections of BUP-XR (300 mg × 2, 100 mg × 4 [n = 203] or 300 mg × 6 [n = 201]) or placebo (n = 100). Study 2 was a 48-week, open-label trial enrolling 257 participants who completed study 1 and 412 de novo participants, to receive 6 and 12 BUP-XR injections, respectively. Study 3 was a 24-week, open-label extension enrolling 208 participants who completed study 2 for 6 additional injections. We assessed opioid abstinence as the proportion of urine opioid negative participants by visit and the percentage of each participant’s negative opioid assessments during the first 6 months.

Results: In total, 916 participants were treated with BUP-XR or placebo. By the end of 18 months, 92.7 % of the de novo cohort and 81.8 % of the study 1 cohort were urine negative for opioids. Among early nonresponders (percentage of abstinence ≤20 %), 73.1 % were urine negative after 18 months. The longer treatment period was well tolerated, with no new safety concerns, and a low incidence of opioid withdrawal signs and symptoms, and hepatic disorder.

Conclusions: Extending BUP-XR treatment beyond 6 months sustained improvement in opioid abstinence and was well tolerated, supporting clinical benefit up to 18 months.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.