Background Accumulating evidence indicates important gender differences in substance use disorders. Little is known, however, about gender differences and opioid use disorders. Objectives To compare demographic characteristics, substance use severity, and other associated areas of functioning (as measured by the Addiction Severity Index–Lite; ASI) among opioid-dependent men and women participating in a multisite effectiveness trial. Methods Participants were 892 adults screened for the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN) investigation of the effectiveness of two buprenorphine tapering schedules. Results The majority of men and women tested positive for oxycodone (68% and 65%, respectively) and morphine (89% each). More women than men tested positive for amphetamines (4% vs. 1%, p<0.01), methamphetamine (11% vs. 4%, p<0.01) and phencyclidine (8% vs. 4%, p=0.02). More men than women tested positive for methadone (11% vs. 6%, p=0.05) and marijuana (22% vs. 15%, p=0.03). Craving for opioids was significantly higher among women (p<0.01). Men evidenced higher alcohol (p<0.01) and legal (p=0.04) ASI composite scores, whereas women had higher drug (p<0.01), employment (p<0.01), family (p<0.01), medical (p<0.01), and psychiatric (p<0.01) ASI composite scores. Women endorsed significantly more current and past medical problems. Conclusions Important gender differences in the clinical profiles of opioid-dependent individuals were observed with regard to substance use severity, craving, medical conditions, and impairment in associated areas of functioning. The findings enhance understanding of the characteristics of treatment-seeking men and women with opioid dependence, and may be useful in improving identification, prevention, and treatment efforts for this challenging and growing population.

Background Significant gender differences in drug and alcohol use have been reported, however little is known about gender differences in prescription opioid misuse and dependence. This study compared correlates, sources and predictors of prescription opioid non-medical use, as well as abuse or dependence among men and women in a nationally-representative sample. Methods Participants were 55,279 (26,746 men, 28,533 women) non-institutionalized civilians aged 12 years and older who participated in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Results Rates of lifetime and past year non-medical use of prescription opiates were 13.6% and 5.1%, respectively. Significantly more men than women endorsed lifetime (15.9% vs. 11.2%) and past year use (5.9% vs. 4.2%; ps < .0001). Among past year users, 13.2% met criteria for current prescription opiate abuse or dependence, and this did not differ significantly by gender. Polysubstance use and treatment underutilization were common among both men and women, however significantly fewer women than men had received alcohol or drug abuse treatment (p = .001). Men were more likely than women to obtain prescription opioids for free from family or friends, and were more likely to purchase them from a dealer (ps < .01). Gender-specific predictors of use as compared to abuse/dependence were also observed. Conclusions The findings highlight important differences between men and women using prescription opiates. The observed differences may help enhance the design of gender-sensitive surveillance, identification, prevention and treatment interventions.

The burden of preventable chronic diseases is straining our nation's health and economy. Diseases caused by obesity and tobacco use account for the largest portions of this preventable burden. CDC funded 50 communities in 2010 to implement policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions in a 2-year initiative. Funded communities developed PSE plans to reduce obesity, tobacco use, and second-hand smoke exposure for their combined 55 million residents. Community outcome objectives and milestones were categorized by PSE interventions as they related to media, access, promotion, pricing, and social support. Communities estimated population reach based on their jurisdiction's census data and target populations. The average proportion of each community's population that was reached was calculated for each intervention category. Outcome objectives that were achieved within 12 months of program initiation were identified from routine program records. The average proportion of a community's jurisdictional population reached by a specific intervention varied across interventions. Mean population reach for obesity-prevention interventions was estimated at 35%, with 14 (26%) interventions covering over 50% of the jurisdictional populations. For tobacco prevention, mean population reach was estimated at 67%, with 16 (84%) interventions covering more than 50% of the jurisdictional populations. Within 12 months, communities advanced over one-third of their obesity and tobacco-use prevention strategies. Tobacco interventions appeared to have higher potential population reach than obesity interventions within this initiative. Findings on the progress and potential reach of this major initiative may help inform future chronic disease prevention efforts.

Radiocarbon ((14)C) provides a way to date material that contains carbon with an age up to ~50,000 years and is also an important tracer of the global carbon cycle. However, the lack of a comprehensive record reflecting atmospheric (14)C prior to 12.5 thousand years before the present (kyr B.P.) has limited the application of radiocarbon dating of samples from the Last Glacial period. Here, we report (14)C results from Lake Suigetsu, Japan (35°35'N, 135°53'E), which provide a comprehensive record of terrestrial radiocarbon to the present limit of the (14)C method. The time scale we present in this work allows direct comparison of Lake Suigetsu paleoclimatic data with other terrestrial climatic records and gives information on the connection between global atmospheric and regional marine radiocarbon levels.