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Background Evidence (background + evidence)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Ethnic differences in drinking outcomes following a brief alcohol intervention in the trauma care setting

ADDICTION, Issue 1 2010
Craig A. Field
ABSTRACT Background Evidence suggests that brief interventions in the trauma care setting reduce drinking, subsequent injury and driving under the influence (DUI) arrest. However, evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions in ethnic minority groups is lacking. The current study evaluates the efficacy of brief intervention among whites, blacks and Hispanics in the United States. Methods We conducted a two-group parallel randomized trial comparing brief motivational intervention (BMI) and treatment as usual with assessment (TAU+) to evaluate treatment differences in drinking patterns by ethnicity. Patients were recruited from a level 1 urban trauma center over a 2-year period. The study included 1493 trauma patients, including 668 whites, 288 blacks and 537 Hispanics. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to evaluate ethnic differences in drinking outcomes including volume per week, maximum amount consumed in 1 day, percentage days abstinent and percentage days heavy drinking at 6- and 12-month follow-up. Analyses controlled for age, gender, employment status, marital status, prior alcohol treatment, type of injury and injury severity. Special emphasis was given to potential ethnic differences by testing the interaction between ethnicity and BMI. Results At 6- and 12-month follow-up, BMI significantly reduced maximum amount consumed in 1 day (P < 0.001; P < 0.001, respectively) and percentage days heavy drinking (P < 0.05; P < 0.05, respectively) among Hispanics. Hispanics in the BMI group also reduced average volume per week at 12-month follow-up (,2 = 6.8, df = 1, P < 0.01). In addition, Hispanics in TAU+ reduced maximum amount consumed at 6- and 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001; P < 0.001) and volume per week at 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001). Whites and blacks in both BMI and TAU+ reduced volume per week and percentage days heavy drinking at 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001; P < 0.01, respectively) and decreased maximum amount at 6- (P < 0.001) and 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001). All three ethnic groups In both BMI and TAU+ reduced volume per week at 6-month follow-up (P < 0.001) and percentage days abstinent at 6- (P < 0.001) and 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001). Conclusions All three ethnic groups evidenced reductions in drinking at 6- and 12-month follow-up independent of treatment assignment. Among Hispanics, BMI reduced alcohol intake significantly as measured by average volume per week, percentage days heavy drinking and maximum amount consumed in 1 day. [source]

Early cannabis use and DSM-IV nicotine dependence: a twin study

ADDICTION, Issue 11 2008
Arpana Agrawal
ABSTRACT Background Evidence suggests that cannabis users are at increased risk for cigarette smoking,if so, this may potentially be the single most alarming public health challenge posed by cannabis use. We examine whether cannabis use prior to age 17 years is associated with an increased likelihood of DSM-IV nicotine dependence and the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to this association. Methods A population-based cohort of 24,36-year-old Australian male and female twins (n = 6257, 286 and 229 discordant pairs) was used. The co-twin,control method, with twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use, was used to examine whether, after controlling for genetic and familial environmental background, there was evidence for an additional influence of early cannabis use on DSM-IV nicotine dependence. Bivariate genetic models were fitted to the full data set to quantify the genetic correlation between early cannabis use and nicotine dependence. Results The early cannabis-using twin was about twice as likely to report nicotine dependence, when compared to their co-twin who had experimented with cigarettes but had never used cannabis. Even when analyses were restricted to cannabis users, earlier age cannabis use onset conferred greater risk (1.7) for nicotine dependence than did later onset. This association was governed largely by common genetic liability to early cannabis use and nicotine dependence, as demonstrated by genetic correlations of 0.41,0.52. Conclusions Early-onset cannabis users are at increased risk for nicotine dependence, but this risk is attributable largely to common genetic vulnerability. There is no evidence for a causal relationship between cannabis use and nicotine dependence. [source]

Drug injecting and syringe use in the HIV risk environment of Russian penitentiary institutions: qualitative study

ADDICTION, Issue 12 2006
Anya Sarang
ABSTRACT Background Evidence highlights the prison as a high risk environment in relation to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmsission associated with injecting drug use. Methods We undertook qualitative studies among 209 injecting drug users (IDUs) in three Russian cities: Moscow (n = 56), Volgograd (n = 83) and Barnaul in western Siberia (n = 70). Results Over three-quarters (77%) reported experience of police arrest related to their drug use, and 35% (55% of men) a history of imprisonment or detention. Findings emphasize the critical role that penitentiary institutions may play as a structural factor in the diffusion of HIV associated with drug injection in the Russian Federation. While drugs were perceived to be generally available in penitentiary institutions, sterile injection equipment was scarce and as a consequence routinely shared, including within large groups. Attempts to clean borrowed needles or syringes were inadequate, and risk reduction was severely constrained by a combination of lack of injecting equipment availability and punishment for its possession. Perceptions of relative safety were also found to be associated with assumptions of HIV negativity, resulting from a perception that all prisoners are HIV tested upon entry with those found HIV positive segregated. Conclusion This study shows an urgent need for HIV prevention interventions in the Russian penitentiary system. [source]

Micronutrients and the Risk of Type 1 Diabetes: Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Nicotinamide

NUTRITION REVIEWS, Issue 9 2004
Elina Hypponen Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Evidence from animal experiments and human observational studies suggests that some dietary micronutrients may protect against the development of type 1 diabetes. The most promising data so far have been obtained for a beneficial role of vitamin D. Beneficial effects of vitamin E (or other antioxidants) in diabetes development remain hypothetical. Despite plausible theoretical background evidence from animal experiments and supportive data from pilot studies, randomized, controlled trials using nicotinamide have not provided any evidence for a beneficial effect. [source]