Publications

BACKGROUND

Non-opioid psychotherapeutic medications significantly increase the risk of opioid overdose-related deaths. We prospectively followed HIV-infected indigent adults sampled from the community to examine rates of and factors associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants.

METHODS

We interviewed participants quarterly for 2 years about alcohol and illicit substance use; depression; use of prescribed opioid analgesics, benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants; opioid analgesic misuse; and non-medical use (i.e., use without a prescription) of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants. Using mixed-effects multivariate logistic regression, we determined factors associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants.

RESULTS

Among the 296 participants at enrollment, 52.0% reported taking opioid analgesics that had been prescribed, 17.9% took benzodiazepines that had been prescribed, and 8.1% took muscle relaxants that had been prescribed. Over the 2-year study interval, 53.4% reported prescription opioid misuse, 25.3% reported non-medical use of benzodiazepines, 11.5% reported non-medical use of muscle relaxants, and 6.1% reported non-medical use of prescription stimulants. In multivariable analysis, opioid analgesic misuse in the past 90 days was associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants during the same time interval. Illicit substance use and depression were not associated with non-medical use of these medications.

CONCLUSIONS

Prescription opioid analgesic misuse is associated with non-medical use of other psychotherapeutic medications. Health care providers should monitor for non-medical use of a broad array of psychoactive medications among high-risk populations to minimize harm.

Chronic pain in HIV-infected individuals is common and often undertreated. Physical therapy (PT) is an evidence-based nonpharmacologic treatment for chronic pain. Our objective is to present the results of a pilot PT program in an HIV pain/palliative care clinic, which is embedded within a Ryan White-funded multidisciplinary HIV primary care clinic. Medical records of HIV-infected patients participating in a PT program between November 2012 and July 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Pain scores on a 0-10 scale and cost data were collected and analyzed. Among 43 patients referred, 27 collectively attended 86 sessions. Median age of enrolled patients was 54 (IQR 49-58). Sixteen (59%) were African-American and 20 (77%) had an undetectable HIV viral load. Mean pain score at initial visit was 6.5 (SD = 1.1). The average session-level decrease was 2.6 (SD = 1.7) and patient-level decrease was 2.5 (SD = 1.2). The largest payors were Medicare managed care (28%), Medicaid (21%), and Ryan White grant-related funds (18%). When the first four months of the program are excluded to account for slow start-up, the program's monthly net revenue during the remaining five months was $163. We present preliminary data from a low-cost pilot PT program integrated into an HIV clinic in a primary care setting associated with clinically significant improvements in pain. Further investigation into the implementation of such programs is essential.

Cigarette smoking is a key factor in the development of numerous pulmonary diseases. An international group of clinicians, radiologists and pathologists evaluated patients with previously identified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) to determine unique features of cigarette smoking. Phase 1 (derivation group) identified smoking-related features in patients with a history of smoking (n=41). Phase 2 (validation group) determined if these features correctly predicted the smoking status of IIP patients (n=100) to participants blinded to smoking history. Finally, the investigators sought to determine if a new smoking-related interstitial lung disease phenotype could be defined. Phase 1 suggested that preserved forced vital capacity with disproportionately reduced diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide, and various radiographic and histopathological findings were smoking-related features. In phase 2, the kappa coefficient among clinicians was 0.16 (95% CI 0.11-0.21), among the pathologists 0.36 (95% CI 0.32-0.40) and among the radiologists 0.43 (95% CI 0.35-0.52) for smoking-related features. Eight of the 100 cases were felt to represent a potential smoking-related interstitial lung disease. Smoking-related features of interstitial lung disease were identified in a minority of smokers and were not specific for smoking. This study is limited by its retrospective design, the potential for recall bias in smoking history and lack of information on second-hand smoke exposure. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between smoking and interstitial lung disease.