Use of Record-Linkage to Handle Non-Response and Improve Alcohol Consumption Estimates in Health Survey Data: A Study Protocol.
Use of record-linkage to handle non-response and improve alcohol consumption estimates in health survey data: a study protocol.
BMJ Open. 2013; 3(3):
Gray L, McCartney G, White IR, Katikireddi SV, Rutherford L, Gorman E, Leyland AH
INTRODUCTION: Reliable estimates of health-related behaviours, such as levels of alcohol consumption in the population, are required to formulate and evaluate policies. National surveys provide such data; validity depends on generalisability, but this is threatened by declining response levels. Attempts to address bias arising from non-response are typically limited to survey weights based on sociodemographic characteristics, which do not capture differential health and related behaviours within categories. This project aims to explore and address non-response bias in health surveys with a focus on alcohol consumption. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Scottish Health Surveys (SHeS) aim to provide estimates representative of the Scottish population living in private households. Survey data of consenting participants (92% of the achieved sample) have been record-linked to routine hospital admission (Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR)) and mortality (from National Records of Scotland (NRS)) data for surveys conducted in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (total adult sample size around 40 000), with maximum follow-up of 16 years. Also available are census information and SMR/NRS data for the general population. Comparisons of alcohol-related mortality and hospital admission rates in the linked SHeS-SMR/NRS with those in the general population will be made. Survey data will be augmented by quantification of differences to refine alcohol consumption estimates through the application of multiple imputation or inverse probability weighting. The resulting corrected estimates of population alcohol consumption will enable superior policy evaluation. An advanced weighting procedure will be developed for wider use. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval for SHeS has been given by the National Health Service (NHS) Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee and use of linked data has been approved by the Privacy Advisory Committee to the Board of NHS National Services Scotland and Registrar General. Funding has been granted by the MRC. The outputs will include four or five public health and statistical methodological international journal and conference papers. PRIMARY SUBJECT HEADING: Public health. SECONDARY SUBJECT HEADING: Addiction: health policy; mental health. HubMed – addiction
Affective Temperaments in Alcohol and Opiate Addictions.
Psychiatr Q. 2013 Mar 1;
Khazaal Y, Gex-Fabry M, Nallet A, Weber B, Favre S, Voide R, Zullino D, Aubry JM
Temperament is considered as a biological disposition reflected by relatively stable features related to mood and reactivity to external and internal stimuli, including variability in emotional reactions. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that affective temperaments might differ according to co-occurring mood disorders among patients with alcohol and/or opiate dependence; to explore the relationship between temperaments and dual substance use disorders (SUDs, alcohol and other drugs). Ninety-two patients attending an alcohol addiction treatment facility and 47 patients in an opiate addiction treatment facility were assessed for SUDs, mood disorders and affective temperaments using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego 39-item auto-questionnaire. Comparison of patients with bipolar disorder, depressive unipolar disorder and no (or substance-induced) mood disorder revealed significant differences for the cyclothymic subscale, with highest scores among patients with bipolar disorder. No difference was observed for the depressive, irritable, hyperthymic and anxious subscales. After adjustment for age, gender and bipolar disorder, irritable temperament was a significant risk factor for past or present history of drug use disorders in patients treated for alcohol addiction (odds ratio [OR] 1.42, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.93). Anxious temperament was a significant risk factor for history of alcohol use disorders in patients treated for opiate addiction (OR 3.30, 95 % CI 1.36-7.99), whereas the hyperthymic subscale appeared as a significant protective factor (OR 0.65, 95 % CI 0.42-0.99). The results highlight the need to consider temperamental aspects in further research to improve the long-term outcome of patient with addictive disorders, who often present complex comorbidity patterns. HubMed – addiction
A Treatment-Oriented Typology of Self-Identified Hypersexuality Referrals.
Arch Sex Behav. 2013 Mar 2;
Cantor JM, Klein C, Lykins A, Rullo JE, Thaler L, Walling BR
Men and women have been seeking professional assistance to help control hypersexual urges and behaviors since the nineteenth century. Despite that the literature emphasizes that cases of hypersexuality are highly diverse with regard to clinical presentation and comorbid features, the major models for understanding and treating hypersexuality employ a “one size fits all” approach. That is, rather than identify which problematic behaviors might respond best to which interventions, existing approaches presume or assert without evidence that all cases of hypersexuality (however termed or defined) represent the same underlying problem and merit the same approach to intervention. The present article instead provides a typology of hypersexuality referrals that links individual clinical profiles or symptom clusters to individual treatment suggestions. Case vignettes are provided to illustrate the most common profiles of hypersexuality referral that presented to a large, hospital-based sexual behaviors clinic, including: (1) Paraphilic Hypersexuality, (2) Avoidant Masturbation, (3) Chronic Adultery, (4) Sexual Guilt, (5) the Designated Patient, and (6) better accounted for as a symptom of another condition. HubMed – addiction
Layla N. CA speaker sharing about cocaine addiction recovery at a CA meeting – Holy Crap.. This tape is freakin’ intense.. If you are looking to get fired up in CA, this is it! Strap on your seat belt, you’re gonna go on a ride with this one 🙂 From the book Alcoholics Anonymous: “In spite of the great increase in the size and span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.” Make sure to like us on facebook 🙂 We’d love to have ya stop in and see us! www.facebook.com What is the Twelve Step Model? How is it a “treatment for alcoholism” or “alcohol abuse?” From Wikipedia: “A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles (accepted by members as ‘spiritual principles,’ based on the approved literature) outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a method of recovery from alcoholism, the Twelve Steps were first published in the book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism in 1939. The method was then adapted and became the foundation of other twelve-step programs. Twelve-step methods have been adopted to address a wide range of substance-abuse and dependency problems.” And as should be blatantly obvious, we are in no way affiliated with Cocaine Anonymous or any other 12 step program. We are just looking to provide hope to those …