Association of Plasma Amyloid-ß and Dementia Among Black and White Older Adults.

Background: Plasma amyloid-ß (Aß) has emerged as an important tool to detect risks of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, although research in diverse populations is lacking. Objective: We compared plasma Aß 42/40 by race with dementia risk over 15 years among Black and White older adults. Methods: In a prospective cohort of 997 dementia-free participants (mean age 74±2.9 years, 55% women, 54% Black), incident dementia was identified based on hospital records, medication, and neurocognitive test over 15 years. Plasma Aß 42/40 was measured at Year 2 and categorized into low, medium, and high tertile. We used linear regression to estimate mean Aß 42/40 by race and race-stratified Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association between Aß 42/40 tertile and dementia risk. Results: Black participants had a lower age-adjusted mean Aß 42/40 compared to White participants, primarily among APOE ɛ4 non-carriers (Black: 0.176, White: 0.185, p = 0.035). Among Black participants, lower Aß 42/40 was associated with increased dementia risk: 33% in low (hazard ratios [HR] = 1.77, 95% confidence interval 1.09-2.88) and 27% in medium tertile (HR = 1.67, 1.01-2.78) compared with 18% in high Aß 42/40 tertile; Increased risks were attenuated among White participants: 21% in low (HR = 1.43, 0.81-2.53) and 23% in medium tertile (HR = 1.27, 0.68-2.36) compared with 15% in high Aß 42/40 tertile. The interaction by race was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Among community-dwelling, non-demented older adults, especially APOE ɛ4 non-carriers, Black individuals had lower plasma Aß 42/40 and demonstrated a higher dementia risk with low Aß 42/40 compared with White individuals.

Cognitive and Functional Trajectories in Older Adults With Prediagnostic Parkinson Disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is increasing interest in characterizing the earliest phases of Parkinson disease (PD). However, few studies have investigated prediagnostic trajectories of cognition and function. Our objective was to describe prediagnostic cognitive and functional trajectories in PD in older women and men. METHODS: We studied 9,595 women and 5,795 men from 2 prospective cohort studies of community-dwelling elders followed up to 20 years. In individuals without prevalent PD, we estimated the associations of incident PD diagnosis with rates of change in cognition and function before and after diagnosis compared with healthy older adults using multivariate mixed-effects models. RESULTS: Over follow-up, 297 individuals developed incident PD. Interactions between the terms in our model and sex were statistically significant for the 3 outcomes (p < 0.001 for all), so we stratified results by sex. Compared with older men without PD, men who developed PD exhibited faster decline in global cognition (0.04 SD more annual change, p < 0.001), executive function (0.05 SD more annual change, p < 0.001), and functional status (0.06 SD more annual change, p < 0.001) in the prediagnostic period. Women who developed PD compared with women without PD displayed faster decline in executive function (0.02 SD more annual change, p = 0.006) and functional status in the prediagnostic period (0.07 SD more annual change, p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Individuals with incident PD exhibit cognitive and functional decline during the prediagnostic phase that exceeds rates associated with normal aging. Better understanding heterogeneity in prodromal PD is essential to enable earlier diagnosis and identify impactful nonmotor symptoms in all subgroups.

Remote Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Proof-of-Concept Study.

BACKGROUND: Adults with cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVRFs) are also at increased risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia. However, it is often difficult to study the relationships between CVRFs and cognitive function because cognitive assessment typically requires time-consuming in-person neuropsychological evaluations that may not be feasible for real-world situations. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a proof-of-concept study to determine if the association between CVRFs and cognitive function could be detected using web-based, self-administered cognitive tasks and CVRF assessment. METHODS: We recruited 239 participants aged ≥50 years (mean age 62.7 years, SD 8.8; 42.7% [n=102] female, 88.7% [n=212] White) who were enrolled in the Health eHeart Study, a web-based platform focused on cardiac disease. The participants self-reported CVRFs (hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation) using web-based health surveys between August 2016 and July 2018. After an average of 3 years of follow-up, we remotely evaluated episodic memory, working memory, and executive function via the web-based Posit Science platform, BrainHQ. Raw data were normalized and averaged into 3 domain scores. We used linear regression models to examine the association between CVRFs and cognitive function. RESULTS: CVRF prevalence was 62.8% (n=150) for high cholesterol, 45.2% (n=108) for hypertension, 10.9% (n=26) for atrial fibrillation, and 7.5% (n=18) for diabetes. In multivariable models, atrial fibrillation was associated with worse working memory (ß=-.51, 95% CI -0.91 to -0.11) and worse episodic memory (ß=-.31, 95% CI -0.59 to -0.04); hypertension was associated with worse episodic memory (ß=-.27, 95% CI -0.44 to -0.11). Diabetes and high cholesterol were not associated with cognitive performance. CONCLUSIONS: Self-administered web-based tools can be used to detect both CVRFs and cognitive health. We observed that atrial fibrillation and hypertension were associated with worse cognitive function even in those in their 60s and 70s. The potential of mobile assessments to detect risk factors for cognitive aging merits further investigation.

Early to Midlife Smoking Trajectories and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged US Adults: the CARDIA Study.

BACKGROUND: Smoking starts in early adulthood and persists throughout the life course, but the association between these trajectories and midlife cognition remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: Determine the association between early to midlife smoking trajectories and midlife cognition. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 3364 adults (mean age = 50.1 ± 3.6, 56% female, 46% Black) from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study: 1638 ever smokers and 1726 never smokers. MAIN MEASURES: Smoking trajectories were identified in latent class analysis among 1638 ever smokers using smoking measures every 2-5 years from baseline (age 18-30 in 1985-1986) through year 25 (2010-2011). Poor cognition was based on cognitive domain scores ≥ 1 SD below the mean on tests of processing speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test), executive function (Stroop), and memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) at year 25. RESULTS: Five smoking trajectories emerged over 25 years: quitters (19%), and minimal stable (40%), moderate stable (20%), heavy stable (15%), and heavy declining smokers (5%). Heavy stable smokers showed poor cognition on all 3 domains compared to never smoking (processing speed AOR = 2.22 95% CI 1.53-3.22; executive function AOR = 1.58 95% CI 1.05-2.36; memory AOR = 1.48 95% CI 1.05-2.10). Compared to never smoking, both heavy declining (AOR = 1.95 95% CI 1.06-3.68) and moderate stable smokers (AOR = 1.56 95% CI 1.11-2.19) exhibited slower processing speed, and heavy declining smokers additionally had poor executive function. For minimal stable smokers (processing speed AOR = 1.12 95% CI 0.85-1.51; executive function AOR = 0.97 95% CI 0.71-1.31; memory AOR = 1.21 95% CI 0.94-1.55) and quitters (processing speed AOR = 0.96 95% CI 0.63-1.48; executive function AOR = 0.98 95% CI 0.63-1.52; memory AOR = 0.97 95% CI 0.67-1.39), no association was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The association between early to midlife smoking trajectories and midlife cognition was dose-dependent. Results underscore the cognitive health risk of moderate and heavy smoking and the potential benefits of quitting on cognition, even in midlife.

Cardiovascular risk factors and accelerated cognitive decline in midlife: The CARDIA Study.

OBJECTIVE: Increasing evidence supports an association between midlife cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and risk of dementia, but less is known about whether CVRFs influence cognition in midlife. We examined the relationship between CVRFs and midlife cognitive decline. METHODS: In 2,675 black and white middle-aged adults (mean age 50.2 ± 3.6 years, 57% female, 45% black), we measured CVRFs at baseline: hypertension (31%), diabetes mellitus (11%), obesity (43%), high cholesterol (9%), and current cigarette smoking (15%). We administered cognitive tests of memory, executive function, and processing speed at baseline and 5 years later. Using logistic regression, we estimated the association of CVRFs with accelerated cognitive decline (race-specific decline ≥1.5 SD from the mean change) on a composite cognitive score. RESULTS: Five percent (n = 143) of participants had accelerated cognitive decline over 5 years. Smoking, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were associated with an increased likelihood of accelerated decline after multivariable adjustment (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-2.71; AOR 1.87, 95% CI 1.26-2.75; AOR 2.45, 95% CI 1.54-3.88, respectively), while obesity and high cholesterol were not associated with risk of decline. These results were similar when stratified by race. The likelihood of accelerated decline also increased with greater number of CVRFs (1-2 CVRFs: AOR 1.77, 95% CI 1.02-3.05; ≥3 CVRFs: AOR 2.94, 95% CI 1.64-5.28) and with Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk Score ≥10 (AOR 2.29, 95% CI 1.21-4.34). CONCLUSIONS: Midlife CVRFs, especially hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and smoking, are common and associated with accelerated cognitive decline at midlife. These results identify potential modifiable targets to prevent midlife cognitive decline and highlight the need for a life course approach to cognitive function and aging.

Condomless Sex and Psychiatric Comorbidity in the Context of Constrained Survival Choices: A Longitudinal Study Among Homeless and Unstably Housed Women.

We sought to identify the prevalence and independent correlates of condomless sex within a cohort of community-recruited homeless and unstably housed cisgender adult women who were followed biannually for 3 years (N = 143 HIV+ , N = 139 HIV-). Nearly half (44%) of participants reported condomless sex in the 6 months before baseline, which increased to 65% throughout the study period. After adjusting for having a primary partner, longitudinal odds of condomless sex among women with HIV were significantly higher among those reporting < daily use of alcohol or cannabis (AOR = 2.09, p =.002, and 1.88, p =.005, respectively) and PTSD (AOR = 1.66, p =.034). Among women without HIV, adjusted longitudinal odds of condomless sex were significantly higher for those reporting < daily methamphetamine use (AOR = 2.02, p =.012), panic attack (AOR = 1.74, p =.029), and homelessness (AOR = 1.67, p = .006). Associations were slightly attenuated when adjusting for sex exchange. Targeted HIV/STI programs for unstably housed women should address anxiety and trauma disorders, infrequent substance use, and housing challenges.

Medical and non-medical marijuana use in depression: Longitudinal associations with suicidal ideation, everyday functioning, and psychiatry service utilization.

BACKGROUND: Marijuana use is clinically problematic in depression, and non-medical and medical use may both contribute to barriers to care in this population. Among outpatients with depression, we examined the differential impact of medical or non-medical marijuana use, relative to no-use, on psychopathology and service use over time. METHOD: Participants were 307 psychiatry outpatients participating in a trial of drug/alcohol use treatment for depression. Measures of past 30-day marijuana use, depression/anxiety symptoms, psychiatry visits, and functional data related to health status were collected at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Regressions (baseline and 1 year) and growth models (over time) predicted clinical and psychiatry visit outcomes, from medical or non-medical marijuana use (no-use = reference). RESULTS: At baseline, 40.0% of the sample used marijuana and more reported non-medical (71.7%) than medical (28.2%) use. Relative to non-users at baseline, patients using medically had worse mental/physical health functioning (p's < 0.05), and non-medical use was associated with higher suicidal ideation (B = 1.08, p = .002), worse mental health functioning (B = -3.79, p = .015), and fewer psychiatry visits (B = -0.69, p = .009). Patients using non-medically over time improved less in depression symptoms (B = 1.49, p = .026) and suicidal ideation (B = 1.08, p = .003) than non-users. LIMITATIONS: Participants were psychiatry outpatients, limiting generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Marijuana use, especially non-medical use, among patients with depression may impede depression symptom improvement while lessening the likelihood of psychiatry visits. Marijuana use and associated barriers to care should receive consideration by depression treatment providers.

Use of a prescription opioid registry to examine opioid misuse and overdose in an integrated health system.

Strategies are needed to identify at-risk patients for adverse events associated with prescription opioids. This study identified prescription opioid misuse in an integrated health system using electronic health record (EHR) data, and examined predictors of misuse and overdose. The sample included patients from an EHR-based registry of adults who used prescription opioids in 2011 in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a large integrated health care system. We characterized time-at-risk for opioid misuse and overdose, and used Cox proportional hazard models to model predictors of these events from 2011 to 2014. Among 396,452 patients, 2.7% were identified with opioid misuse and 1044 had an overdose event. Older patients were less likely to meet misuse criteria or have an overdose. Whites were more likely to be identified with misuse, but not to have an overdose. Alcohol and drug disorders were related to higher risk of misuse and overdose, with the exception that marijuana disorder was not related to opioid misuse. Higher daily opioid dosages and benzodiazepine use increased the risk of both opioid misuse and overdose. We characterized several risk factors associated with misuse and overdose using EHR-based data, which can be leveraged relatively quickly to inform preventive strategies to address the opioid crisis.

Alcohol, marijuana, and opioid use disorders: 5-Year patterns and characteristics of emergency department encounters.

BACKGROUND: Changes in substance use patterns stemming from opioid misuse, ongoing drinking problems, and marijuana legalization may result in new populations of patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) using emergency department (ED) resources. This study examined ED admission trends in a large sample of patients with alcohol, marijuana, and opioid use disorders in an integrated health system. METHODS: In a retrospective design, electronic health record (EHR) data identified patients with ≥1 of 3 common SUDs in 2010 (n = 17,574; alcohol, marijuana, or opioid use disorder) and patients without SUD (n = 17,574). Logistic regressions determined odds of ED use between patients with SUD versus controls (2010-2014); mixed-effect models examined 5-year differences in utilization; moderator models identified subsamples for which patients with SUD may have a greater impact on ED resources. RESULTS: Odds of ED use were higher at each time point (2010-2014) for patients with alcohol (odds ratio [OR] range: 5.31-2.13, Ps < .001), marijuana (OR range: 5.45-1.97, Ps < .001), and opioid (OR range: 7.63-4.19, Ps < .001) use disorders compared with controls; odds decreased over time (Ps < .001). Patients with opioid use disorder were at risk of high ED utilization; patients were 7.63 times more likely to have an ED visit in 2010 compared with controls and remained 5.00 (average) times more likely to use ED services. ED use increased at greater rates for patients with alcohol and opioid use disorders with medical comorbidities relative to controls (Ps < .045). CONCLUSIONS: ED use is frequent in patients with SUDs who have access to private insurance coverage and integrated medical services. ED settings provide important opportunities in health systems to identify patients with SUDs, particularly patients with opioid use disorder, to initiate treatment and facilitate ongoing care, which may be effective for reducing excess medical emergencies and ED encounters.

Alcohol and Drug Use, Pain and Psychiatric Symptoms among Adults Seeking Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment: Latent Class Patterns and Relationship to Health Status.

BACKGROUND: Substance use, psychiatric problems, and pain frequently co-occur, yet clinical profiles of treatment-seeking patients are poorly understood. To inform service and treatment planning, substance use and symptom patterns were examined in an outpatient psychiatry clinic, along with the relationship of these patterns to demographic characteristics and physical health. METHODS: Patients (N = 405; age M = 38; 69% White; 60% female) presenting for intake in a psychiatry outpatient clinic completed a computerized assessment of psychiatric problems, drinking, and drug use. Substance use and psychiatric symptom patterns among the sample were identified using latent class analysis. RESULTS: A 4-class model fit the data best: Class (1) Moderate symptoms/wide-range users (22.0%) had moderate depression and panic; tobacco, cocaine, hallucinogen, and ecstasy use; and high cannabis use. Class (2) Moderate depression/panic (37.8%) had moderate depression and panic. Class (3) Depression/anxiety, tobacco, and cannabis users (28.0%) had high depression, obsessions, and panic, and moderate pain severity, social phobia, compulsions, trauma, tobacco, and cannabis use. Class (4) Severe/wide range symptoms/users (12.0%) had high panic, depression, social phobia, obsessions, drug use, and moderate pain. Gender, ethnicity, and health status varied by class. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the preponderance of substance use (particularly cannabis) and its relationship to psychiatric symptom severity, pain, and health status among those presenting for mental health treatment.

Adverse impact of marijuana use on clinical outcomes among psychiatry patients with depression and alcohol use disorder.

This study examined whether marijuana use was associated with clinically problematic outcomes for patients with depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD). The sample consisted of 307 psychiatry outpatients with mild to severe depression and past 30-day hazardous drinking/drug use, who participated in a trial of substance use treatment. Participants were assessed for AUD based on DSM-IV criteria. Measures of marijuana use, depression symptoms, and functional status related to mental health were collected at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Differences in these outcomes were analyzed among patients with and without AUD using growth models, adjusting for treatment effects. Marijuana was examined as both an outcome (patterns of use) and a predictor (impact on depression and functioning). Forty percent used marijuana and about half the sample met AUD criteria. Fewer patients with AUD used marijuana than those without AUD at baseline. Over 6 months, the proportion of patients with AUD using marijuana increased compared to those without AUD. Patients with AUD using marijuana had greater depressive symptoms and worse functioning than those without AUD. These findings indicate that marijuana use is clinically problematic for psychiatry outpatients with depression and AUD. Addressing marijuana in the context of psychiatry treatment may help improve outcomes.

Prescription opioid registry protocol in an integrated health system.

OBJECTIVES: To establish a prescription opioid registry protocol in a large health system and to describe algorithms to characterize individuals using prescription opioids, opioid use episodes, and concurrent use of sedative/hypnotics. STUDY DESIGN: Protocol development and retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Using Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) electronic health record data, we selected patients using prescription opioids in 2011. Opioid and sedative/hypnotic fills, and physical and psychiatric comorbidity diagnoses, were extracted for years 2008 to 2014. Algorithms were developed to identify each patient's daily opioid and sedative/hypnotic use, and morphine daily-dose equivalent. Opioid episodes were classified as long-term, episodic, or acute. Logistic regression was used to predict characteristics associated with becoming a long-term opioid user. RESULTS: In 2011, 18% of KPNC adult members filled at least 1 opioid prescription. Among those patients, 25% used opioids long term and their average duration of use was more than 4 years. Sedative/hypnotics were used by 76% of long-term users. Being older, white, living in a more deprived neighborhood, having a chronic pain diagnosis, and use of sedative/hypnotics were predictors of initiating long-term opioid use. CONCLUSIONS: This study established a population-based opioid registry that is flexible and can be used to address important questions of prescription opioid use. It will be used in future studies to answer a broad range of other critical public health issues relating to prescription opioid use.

Serious mental illness and medical comorbidities: Findings from an integrated health care system.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the odds associated with having medical comorbidities among patients with serious mental illness (SMI) in a large integrated health system. METHOD: In a secondary analysis of electronic health record data, this study identified 25,090 patients with an ICD-9 SMI diagnosis of bipolar disorder (n=20,308) or schizophrenia (n=4782) and 25,090 controls who did not have a SMI, matched on age, gender, and medical home facility. Conditional logistic regressions compared the odds associated with having nine medical comorbidity categories and fifteen chronic or serious conditions among patients with SMI versus controls. RESULTS: Results showed having a SMI was associated with significantly higher odds of each medical comorbidity examined (p's<0.001), except no evidence of a significant association was found between having schizophrenia and musculoskeletal diseases. A similar pattern was found regarding the chronic or severe conditions, where having schizophrenia or bipolar was associated with >1.5 times the odds of each condition (p's<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In an integrated health system where patients may have fewer barriers to care, SMI patients are likely to present for treatment with a range of medical comorbidities, including chronic and severe conditions. SMI patients may need outreach strategies focused on disease prevention, screening and early diagnosis, and treatment to address medical comorbidities and associated poor health outcomes.

The role of marijuana use disorder in predicting emergency department and inpatient encounters: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Marijuana use disorder (MUD) is the most common illegal drug use disorder and its prevalence is increasing. It is associated with psychiatric and medical problems, but little is known about its impact on emergency department (ED) and inpatient utilization rates. DESIGN: In a retrospective cohort design, we used electronic health record (EHR) data to identify patients with MUD (n=2752) and demographically matched patients without MUD (n=2752) in 2010. Logistic regressions determined risk of ED and inpatient visits each year from 2010 to 2014 for MUD patients versus controls; mixed-effect growth models examined differences in utilization rates over 5-years. Patient characteristics predicting increased risk of utilization were examined among the MUD sample only. KEY RESULTS: Rates of ED (OR=0.87, p<0.001) and inpatient (OR=0.76, p<0.001) services use significantly declined over 5 years for all patients. Patients with MUD exhibited a significantly greater decline in ED (OR=0.81, p<0.001) and inpatient (OR=0.64, p<0.001) use relative to controls. However, MUD patients had significantly greater risk of having ED and inpatient visits at each time point (p's<0.001). MUD patients with co-occurring other substance use, medical, and/or psychiatric disorders had a greater risk of having ED or inpatient encounters over 5 years (p's<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MUD patients remain at high risk for ED and inpatient visits despite decreasing utilization rates over 5 years. Addressing MUD patients' comorbid conditions in outpatient settings may help reduce inappropriate service use.

Motivation deficits and use of alcohol and illicit drugs among individuals with schizophrenia.

This study examined the impact of substance use on intrinsic motivation and evaluated the association between intrinsic motivation and substance use recovery among individuals with schizophrenia. Alcohol and illicit drug use and intrinsic motivation were evaluated at baseline and 6-months for 1434 individuals with schizophrenia from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) using self-rated substance use assessments and a derived motivation measure from the Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life Scale. Results revealed patients had moderate motivation deficits overall and a considerable number were using alcohol or illicit drugs at baseline (n=576; 40.2%). Regression models at baseline showed patients with low levels of motivation had higher odds of substance use and those who were using substances had greater motivation deficits. At 6-months, substance using patients continued to demonstrate greater motivation deficits; however, those with high levels of motivation exhibited a greater reduction in their use of substances. Findings remained significant after adjusting for clinical confounds and were consistent across any substance, alcohol, and cannabis use. Our results emphasize concerns about substance use compounding motivation deficits in schizophrenia, and suggest that disentangling the motivation-substance use relationship in schizophrenia may facilitate efforts aimed at ameliorating these challenges and improving outcomes.

Patterns of marijuana use among psychiatry patients with depression and its impact on recovery.

BACKGROUND: Depression is associated with substance-related problems that worsen depression-related disability. Marijuana is frequently used by those with depression, yet whether its use contributes to significant barriers to recovery in this population has been understudied. METHOD: Participants were 307 psychiatry outpatients with depression; assessed at baseline, 3-, and 6-months on symptom (PHQ-9 and GAD-7), functioning (SF-12) and past-month marijuana use for a substance use intervention trial. Longitudinal growth models examined patterns and predictors of marijuana use and its impact on symptom and functional outcomes. RESULTS: A considerable number of (40.7%; n=125) patients used marijuana within 30-days of baseline. Over 6-months, marijuana use decreased (B=-1.20, p<.001), but patterns varied by demographic and clinical characteristics. Depression (B=0.03, p<.001) symptoms contributed to increased marijuana use over the follow-up, and those aged 50+(B=0.44, p<.001) increased their marijuana use compared to the youngest age group. Marijuana use worsened depression (B=1.24, p<.001) and anxiety (B=0.80, p=.025) symptoms; marijuana use led to poorer mental health (B=-2.03, p=.010) functioning. Medical marijuana (26.8%; n=33) was associated with poorer physical health (B=-3.35, p=.044) functioning. LIMITATIONS: Participants were psychiatry outpatients, limiting generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Marijuana use is common and associated with poor recovery among psychiatry outpatients with depression. Assessing for marijuana use and considering its use in light of its impact on depression recovery may help improve outcomes.

Alcohol, Cannabis, and Opioid Use Disorders, and Disease Burden in an Integrated Health Care System.

OBJECTIVES: We examined prevalence of major medical conditions and extent of disease burden among patients with and without substance use disorders (SUDs) in an integrated health care system serving 3.8 million members. METHODS: Medical conditions and SUDs were extracted from electronic health records in 2010. Patients with SUDs (n = 45,461; alcohol, amphetamine, barbiturate, cocaine, hallucinogen, and opioid) and demographically matched patients without SUDs (n = 45,461) were compared on the prevalence of 19 major medical conditions. Disease burden was measured as a function of 10-year mortality risk using the Charlson Comorbidity Index. P-values were adjusted using Hochberg's correction for multiple-inference testing within each medical condition category. RESULTS: The most frequently diagnosed SUDs in 2010 were alcohol (57.6%), cannabis (14.9%), and opioid (12.9%). Patients with these SUDs had higher prevalence of major medical conditions than non-SUD patients (alcohol use disorders, 85.3% vs 55.3%; cannabis use disorders, 41.9% vs 23.0%; and opioid use disorders, 44.9% vs 26.1%; all P < 0.001). Patients with these SUDs also had higher disease burden than non-SUD patients; patients with opioid use disorders (M = 0.48; SE = 1.46) had particularly high disease burden (M = 0.23; SE = 0.09; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Common SUDs, particularly opioid use disorders, are associated with substantial disease burden for privately insured individuals without significant impediments to care. This signals the need to explore the full impact SUDs have on the course and outcome of prevalent conditions and initiate enhanced service engagement strategies to improve disease burden.

The role of hazardous drinking reductions in predicting depression and anxiety symptom improvement among psychiatry patients: A longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Co-occurrence of depression, anxiety, and hazardous drinking is high in clinical samples. Hazardous drinking can worsen depression and anxiety symptoms (and vice versa), yet less is known about whether reductions in hazardous drinking improve symptom outcomes. METHODS: Three hundred and seven psychiatry outpatients were interviewed (baseline, 3-, 6-months) for hazardous drinking (drinking over recommended daily limits), depression (PHQ-9), and anxiety (GAD-7) as part of a hazardous drinking intervention trial. Longitudinal growth models tested associations between hazardous drinking and symptoms (and reciprocal effects between symptoms and hazardous drinking), adjusting for treatment effects. RESULTS: At baseline, participants had moderate anxiety (M=10.81; SD=10.82) and depressive symptoms (M=13.91; SD=5.58); 60.0% consumed alcohol at hazardous drinking levels. Over 6-months, participants' anxiety (B=-3.03, p<.001) and depressive symptoms (B=-5.39, p<.001) improved. Continued hazardous drinking led to slower anxiety (B=0.09, p=.005) and depressive symptom (B=0.10, p=.004) improvement; reductions in hazardous drinking led to faster anxiety (B=-0.09, p=.010) and depressive (B=-0.10, p=.015) symptom improvement. Neither anxiety (B=0.07, p=.066) nor depressive (B=0.05, p=.071) symptoms were associated with hazardous drinking outcomes. LIMITATIONS: Participants were psychiatry outpatients, limiting generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing hazardous drinking can improve depression and anxiety symptoms but continued hazardous use slows recovery for psychiatry patients. Hazardous drinking-focused interventions may be helpful in promoting symptom improvement in clinical populations.