Gender, a biological determinant of mental health and illness, plays a critical role in determining patients' susceptibility, exposure to mental health risks, and related outcomes. Regarding sex differences in the epidemiology of opioid dependence, one third of the patients are women of childbearing age. Women have an earlier age of initiation of substance use and a more rapid progression to drug involvement and dependence than men. Generally few studies exist which focus on the special needs of women in opioid maintenance therapy. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of treatment options for opioid-dependent women, with a special focus on buprenorphine, and to look at recent findings related to other factors that should be taken into consideration in optimizing the treatment of opioid-dependent women. Issues addressed include the role of gender in the choice of medication assisted treatment, sex differences in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of buprenorphine drug interactions, cardiac interactions, induction of buprenorphine in pregnant patients, the neonatal abstinence syndrome and breastfeeding. This paper aims to heighten the awareness for the need to take gender into consideration when making treatment decisions in an effort to optimize services and enhance the quality of life of women suffering from substance abuse.
Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders are both common and especially challenging during pregnancy. Considering possible risks of intrauterine drug exposure of the child, the role of psychopharmacological treatment is ambiguous and various negative obstetric outcomes were inconsistently associated with medication. Consequently, a critical examination of peri-and postnatal phenomena associated with intrauterine exposure to antidepressants based on serotonin reuptake inhibition (SRI) and subsumed under the term "poor neonatal adaptation syndrome" (PNAS) is urgently called for.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted, revealing a total number of 33 relevant studies and 69 individual outcomes among 3025 screened studies. Seventeen outcomes allowed meta-analytic evaluation (random effects model). Measures for heterogeneity (I 2 ) and contour-enhanced funnel plots were generated.Results: Single studies showed increased risks for deficits in neurological functioning and autonomous adaptation in SRI exposed infants. Meta-analytical evaluation showed increased symptom occurrence or severity in exposed neonates for low APGAR scores, birth weight, size for gestational age, preterm delivery, neuromuscular and autonomous regulation, and higher rates of admission to specialized care. Mostly, increased risk after SRI exposure was supported by comparison to unexposed infants born to mothers diagnosed with depression. Conclusion:Whereas statistically significant evidence for various effects of intrauterine exposure to SRI was found, the clinical relevance remains unresolved because of inherently low data quality in this research domain and insufficiently defined samples and outcomes. More systematic research under ethical considerations is required to improve multiprofessional counseling in the many women dealing with MDD during pregnancy and the peripartum.
Increased pain sensitivity and the development of opioid tolerance complicate the treatment of pain experienced by opioid maintained pregnant women during delivery and the perinatal period. The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in pain management of opioid maintained compared to non-dependent pregnant women during delivery and the postpartum period. 40 deliveries of 37 opioid dependent women enrolled in a double-blind, double-dummy randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the safety and efficacy of methadone (mean dose at the time of delivery = 63.89 mg) and buprenorphine (mean dose at the time of delivery = 14.05 mg) during pregnancy were analyzed and participants were matched to a non-dependent comparison group of 80 pregnant women. Differences in pain management (opioid and non-opioid analgesic medication) during delivery and perinatal period were analyzed. Following cesarean delivery opioid maintained women received significantly less opioid analgesics (day of delivery p = 0.038; day 1: p = 0.02), NSAIDs were administered more frequently to opioid dependent patients than to the comparison group during cesarean section and on the third day postpartum. Significantly higher nicotine consumption in the group of opioid dependent women had a strong influence on the retrieved results, and might be considered as an independent factor of altered pain experience. Differences in pain treatment became evident when comparing opioid maintained women to healthy controls. These differences might be based on psychosocial consequences of opioid addiction along with the lack of an interdisciplinary consensus on pain treatment protocols for opioid dependent patients.
Research has shown that substance use, abuse and addiction are not limited to a specific age group. Problems related to substance addiction are an important cause of morbidity in the population aged 65 years and above, especially the abuse of prescription drugs and legal substances. A lack of evidence-based studies and tailored treatment options for the aging population is evident. Appropriate and effective health care is an important goal to improve the health-related quality of life of elderly people. Research in the increasingly aging population needs to include an age- and gender-sensitive approach.
Background: Little comparable information is available regarding clinical characteristics of opioid-dependent women from different countries. In the present study, women from the USA, Canada and a Central European country, Austria, screened for participation in the Maternal Opioid Treatment Human Experimental Research study, were compared with respect to their demographic and addiction histories. Methods: Pregnant women (n = 1,074) were screened for study participation using uniformed clinical criteria and instruments. The screening results were compared with regard to exclusion, demographics, drug use, and psychosocial and treatment histories. Results: Compared to the screened US and Canadian women, Austrian women were more likely to be younger (p < 0.001), white (p < 0.001), had significantly lower levels of educational attainment (p < 0.001), were less likely to use opioids daily (p < 0.001) and more likely to have been prescribed buprenorphine (p < 0.001). Compared to both rural and urban US groups, the Austrian group was less likely to have legal issues (p < 0.001) and was younger when first prescribed agonist medication (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The differences between North American and European groups may offer unique insights concerning treatment and pregnancy outcomes for opioid-dependent pregnant women.
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