JAMA network open
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Meta Analysis
Rate and Risk Factors Associated With Prolonged Opioid Use After Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Prolonged opioid use after surgery may be associated with opioid dependency and increased health care use. However, published studies have reported varying estimates of the magnitude of prolonged opioid use and risk factors associated with the transition of patients to long-term opioid use. ⋯ The findings suggest that prolonged opioid use after surgery may be a substantial burden to public health. It appears that strategies, such as proactively screening for at-risk individuals, should be prioritized.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic and can involve the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including symptoms like diarrhea and shedding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in feces. ⋯ These findings suggest that that 12% of patients with COVID-19 will manifest GI symptoms; however, SAR-CoV-2 shedding was observed in 40.5% of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. This highlights the need to better understand what measures are needed to prevent further spread of this highly contagious pathogen.
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Substance use disorders (SUDs) represent a pressing public health concern. Combined behavioral and pharmacological interventions are considered best practices for addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a first-line intervention, yet the superiority of CBT compared with other behavioral treatments when combined with pharmacotherapy remains unclear. An understanding of the effects of combined CBT and pharmacotherapy will inform best-practice guidelines for treatment of SUD. ⋯ The present study supports the efficacy of combined CBT and pharmacotherapy compared with usual care and pharmacotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy did not perform better than another evidence-based modality (eg, motivational enhancement therapy, contingency management) in this context or as an add-on to combined usual care and pharmacotherapy. These findings suggest that best practices in addiction treatment should include pharmacotherapy plus CBT or another evidence-based therapy, rather than usual clinical management or nonspecific counseling services.
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In late December 2019, an outbreak caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 emerged in Wuhan, China. Data on the clinical characteristics and outcomes of infected patients in urban communities in the US are limited. ⋯ In this review of urban metropolitan patients with COVID-19, most were African American with a high prevalence of comorbid conditions and high rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, complications, and mortality due to COVID-19.
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During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, there may be too few ventilators to meet medical demands. It is unknown how many US states have ventilator allocation guidelines and how these state guidelines compare with one another. ⋯ These findings suggest that although allocation guidelines for mechanical ventilatory support are essential in a public health emergency, only 26 US states provided public guidance on how this allocation should occur. Guidelines among states, including adjacent states, varied significantly and could cause inequity in the allocation of mechanical ventilatory support during a public health emergency, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.