Key Findings
This is a quick summary of the main discovery for each research paper we have published, organized issue by issue. Each key finding is below the article title, with a link to the abstract.
Search key findings View Previous Lists
April 2022
Smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women attending treatment for substance use disorders: A systematic review
Existing studies of smoking interventions for pregnant women with AOD concerns are hindered by poor methodological quality.
Behavioral response bias and event-related brain potentials implicate elevated incentive salience attribution to alcohol cues in emerging adults with lower sensitivity to alcohol
Low sensitivity to alcohol appears to index a propensity to attribute bottom-up incentive value to naturally conditioned alcohol cues.
Effects of brief substance use interventions delivered in general medical settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis
When delivered in general medical settings, alcohol-targeted brief interventions may produce small reductions in drinking but have limited evidence for reduction in drug use
Risk of somatic disease and mortality in individuals of parents with alcohol use disorder: a register-based cohort study
Parental alcohol use disorder appears to predict somatic disease and death in offspring.
External validation of a machine learning classifier to identify unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized patients
An alcohol misuse classifier demonstrated adequate sensitivity and specificity as an automated screening tool for identifying at-risk patients.
Employment trajectories among those treated for alcohol use disorder: A register-based cohort study
Norwegian patients treated for AUD in 2009 and 2010 had lower labour force participation in the 5 years after treatment than the general population.
Association between discontinuing chronic opioid therapy and newly diagnosed substance use disorders, accidents, self-inflicted injuries and drug overdoses within the prescribers' health care system: a retrospective cohort study
There may be an association between discontinuing chronic opioid therapy and decreased diagnoses for opioid-related adverse outcomes.
Influence of alcohol and acetaldehyde on cognitive function: findings from an alcohol clamp study in healthy young adults
Acetaldehyde, rather than alcohol, may play a substantial role in the harmful effects of drinking on cognitive function in humans.
Organ pathologies detected post-mortem in patients receiving opioid agonist treatment for opioid use disorder: a nation-wide 2-year cross-sectional study
Two thirds of Norwegians who died during opioid agonist treatment in 2014 and 2015 had more than two organ system diseases.
The cost and impact of distributing naloxone to people who are prescribed opioids to prevent opioid-related deaths: findings from a modelling study
In Australia, scaling up take-home naloxone by 2030 to reach 90% of people prescribed daily doses of ≥50mg of oral morphine equivalents would be cost-effective and save over 650 lives.
Health impacts of a scale-up of supervised injection services in a Canadian setting: an interrupted time series analysis
The 2016 scaling up overdose prevention sites in Vancouver, Canada was associated with Increased supervised injection services engagement and related health benefits.
Impact of wagering inducements on the gambling behaviors of on-line gamblers: A longitudinal study based on gambling tracking data
Wagering inducements may represent a risk factor for developing or exacerbating gambling problems.
Long-term associations of cigarette smoking in early mid-life with predicted brain aging from mid- to late life
Heavier smoking and drinking by age 40 appears to predict advanced brain aging by age 56 in men.
Effectiveness of an optimized text message and Internet intervention for smoking cessation: A randomized controlled trial
A combined Internet and text message intervention for smoking cessation yielded equivalent abstinence rates to an Internet intervention alone.
Panoramic smoking burden and genetic susceptibility in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a prospective study in UK Biobank
Panoramic smoking burden appears to be associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a gradient manner.
Effectiveness of offering tailored text message, self-help smoking cessation support to pregnant women who want information on stopping smoking: MiQuit3 randomised controlled trial and meta-analysis
A tailored, self-help, text message stop smoking programme for pregnancy appears to increase attempts at stopping smoking.
Polygenic score for cigarette smoking is associated with ever electronic-cigarette use in a college-aged sample
Genetic factors associated with regular combustible cigarettes use appear to be associated with e-cigarette use in young adults.
Strategies to enhance the effects of pictorial warnings for cigarettes: results from a discrete choice experiment
Larger or two-sided pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs may be better at lowering purchase intentions and increasing risk perceptions and motivation to quit than smaller or one-sided warnings.
Alcohol and nicotine polygenic scores are associated with the development of alcohol and nicotine use problems from adolescence to young adulthood
The regular smoker polygenic score appears to be a robust predictor of substance use trajectories.
Are market mechanisms associated with alcohol and other drug treatment outcomes?
There appears to be no association between client outcomes and procurement and funding contract arrangements for alcohol and drug treatment services.
Patient characteristics and treatment utilization in fatal stimulant-involved overdoses in the United States Veterans Health Administration
The rate of deaths among US Veterans from stimulant-related overdose was three times higher in 2018 than 2012.
Effect of reductions in opioid prescribing on opioid use disorder and fatal overdose in the United States: a dynamic Markov model
Reduced opioid prescribing in the US appears to have saved about 9,600 lives and may save another 50,000 by 2029.
Comparative clinical effectiveness and safety of tobacco cessation pharmacotherapies and electronic cigarettes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Most smoking cessation therapies are more effective than placebo at helping participants achieve sustained abstinence; varenicline is most effective.