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Analysis of Social Media Language Using AI Models Predicts Depression Severity for White Americans, but Not Black Americans
Researchers were able to predict depression severity for white people, but not for Black people using standard language-based computer models to analyze Facebook posts. Words and phrases associated with depression, such as first-person pronouns and negative emotion words, were around three times...
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Only 1 in 5 U.S. Adults With Opioid Use Disorder Received Medications to Treat It in 2021
In 2021, an estimated 2.5 million people aged 18 years or older in the U.S. had opioid use disorder in the past year, yet only 1 in 5 of them (22%) received medications to treat it, according to a new study. Some groups were substantially less likely to receive medication, including Black adults,...
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Marijuana and Hallucinogen Use, Binge Drinking Reached Historic Highs Among Adults 35 to 50
Past-year use of marijuana and hallucinogen use by adults 35 to 50 years old continued a long-term upward trajectory to reach all-time highs in 2022, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, an annual survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes of adults 19 to 60 years old....
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Higher Buprenorphine Doses Associated With Improved Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
Individuals with opioid use disorder who were prescribed a lower buprenorphine dose were 20% more likely to discontinue treatment than those on a higher dose, according to a study of patients prescribed buprenorphine in Rhode Island from 2016 to 2020, as fentanyl became widely available. The...
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Telehealth Supports Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
Starting buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder through telehealth was associated with an increased likelihood of staying in treatment longer compared to starting treatment in a non-telehealth setting, according to a new study analyzing Medicaid data from 2019-2020 in Kentucky and Ohio....
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Reported Drug Use Among Adolescents Continued to Hold Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2023
The percentage of adolescents reporting they used any illicit substances in 2023 continued to hold steady below the pre-pandemic levels reported in 2020, with 10.9% of eighth graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 31.2% of 12th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year, according...
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Overdose Deaths Increased in Pregnant and Postpartum Women From Early 2018 to Late 2021
Drug overdose deaths rose markedly between January to June 2018 and July to December 2021 among 10- to 44-year-old girls and women who were pregnant or pregnant within the previous 12 months, according to a new study by researchers at National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National...
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Men Died of Overdose at 2-3 Times Greater a Rate Than Women in the U.S. In 2020-2021
Men were significantly more vulnerable than women to overdose deaths involving opioid and stimulant drugs in 2020-2021, according to a new study analyzing death records data from across the United States. The study found that men had a 2–3 times greater rate of overdose mortality from opioids...
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Only 1 in 4 Adolescent Treatment Facilities Offer Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
Only 1 in 4 residential addiction treatment facilities caring for U.S. adolescents under 18 years old offer buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, according to a new study. Only 1 in 8 offer buprenorphine for ongoing treatment. These findings highlight a significant gap in...
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Still Reaching: The Syndemics that Complicate and Characterize How Drugs and HIV Intersect in People’s Lives
Nearly 42 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a rare pneumonia in five gay men, marking the recognized start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While we often hear about those men’s sexuality, we hear less often about their substamce use. As the 1981 report notes,...
