20 Oct What if it were possible to predict addiction?

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Arscott

Karen Arscott, DO
Department of Medical Education
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Scranton PA 18509

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: “Substance Use Disorder Risk Assessment (SUDRA)” is a proposed screening tool and possible source of prevention for substance use disorder (SUD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD).  The US opioid overdose epidemic continues to escalate with over one-hundred thousand deaths in a single year. The current screening tools used for assessing SUD identifies persons already suffering with advanced disease. Our investigation brings to light a simple screening tool which can be used to identify a person with “Preaddiciton” potential.

For many years I have asked persons (both patients and nonpatients) the question how they felt the first time they took an opioid. Their answers have been astonishing. Probably the one answer that struck me the strongest was a professional colleague who answered that when she was prescribed Vicodin following a surgical procedure it made her feel so amazing that it scared her, and she never took another opioid. She reported to me that it would have been too easy to take regularly for the wonderful feeling – she however, recognized the danger of that feeling and avoided a potential substance use disorder. What if this risk was provided to all – what if parents and patients understood the risk if faced with that “feeling”? How many lives could be saved?

We are very confident that these timely findings will be discussed and presented widely. The paper will be highly downloaded and cited by many interested in the prevention of substance use disorder – a new concept and much improved over the current treatment of advanced disease.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the key points of your research?

Response: I wanted to determine if substance use disorder (and therefore addiction) can be prevented by a simple screening tool. This was determined to be possible with our research: Substance use disorder risk assessment: positive emotional experiences with first time use and substance use disorder risk”

Our study involved a self-administered survey using a cross-sectional design and was carried out over one-month in the spring of 2021.

Potential study participants (N=259) were identified at a local Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) clinic and urgent care facility during their standard care visits in either the MAT clinic or as persons requiring another type of medical care at the urgent care. This MAT clinic supports patients seeking care for alcohol and/or opioid use disorders. Patients receiving acute care (non-MAT care) were assigned to the Comparison group (N =126, 50.8% female, 5.7% non-white, 27.2% age ≤ 34) and those receiving treatment for SUD were assigned to the MAT group (N =133, 40.8% female, 4.8% non-White, 36.8% age ≤ 34).

This novel retrospective cross-sectional study determined that the first affective responses to recreational drug use may predict risk for future drug misuse potentially leading to SUD. Reporting positive feelings with first usage of alcohol and/or opioids could be used as a screening tool for patients who may be more prone to developing AUD and/or SUD.

MedicalResearch.com: Was the outcome compatible with your premise or were the results surprising?

Response:  The results for the opioid use disorder questions were what was expected – although perhaps a little stronger than originally thought. The results for the alcohol use disorder were positive as well – this was unexpected although in retrospect it is understandable and should have been anticipated.

MedicalResearch.com: What should practicing clinicians and the public take home from your study?

Response: Simply discussing the feelings experienced with first use of an opioid or alcohol could help persons understand the personal risk of continued use of that substance. This could be used as a public service message and posted in physician offices, dental offices, ER’s, etc.

MedicalResearch.com: What further questions remain to be answered in this answer? What further research is indicated?

Response: Next steps would be to discover how/why the pathways in the brain are activated with first use of a substance – no matter the dose. This line of study could allow for new tools to be developed which could prevent development of SUD and AUD.

Citation

Arscott KE, et al. Substance use disorder risk assessment: Positive emotional experiences with first time use and substance use disorder risk assessment. Frontiers in Psychiatry; 2024; 15:1368598. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39371912/

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Last Updated on October 20, 2024 by Marie Benz MD FAAD