Publications by authors named "Kenneth R Conner"

Objective: Members of the U.S. Deaf community experience higher rates of mental health problems than do hearing individuals, but empirical data on Deaf people's treatment engagement are lacking.

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Purpose: We implemented a "kit in hand" naloxone distribution program at emergency department (ED) discharge activated by electronic health record Best Practice Advisory (BPA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate naloxone kit distribution before and after implementation.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of adult ED patients with unintentional opioid overdose conducted over a six-month period.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the effects of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) on emergency department visits and inpatient admissions among Medicaid enrollees in rural areas over 30 months.
  • It analyzed data from 5,370 patients with opioid use disorder, comparing those receiving MOUD (primarily buprenorphine) with a similar group not receiving MOUD.
  • The findings indicated that MOUD treatment significantly reduced emergency department visits by 24% and inpatient admissions by 52%, showing benefits in healthcare utilization even after treatment discontinuation.
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Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is among the most prevalent substance use disorders in the USA. Despite availability of effective interventions, treatment initiation and engagement remain low. Existing interventions target motivation and practical barriers to accessing treatment among individuals established within treatment systems.

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Introduction: Recent research suggests that alcohol use disorder may be more prevalent in the Deaf community, a diverse sociolinguistic minority group. However, rates of treatment-seeking among Deaf individuals are even lower than in the general society. This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior to identify Deaf adults' beliefs about treatment that may prevent their treatment-seeking behaviors.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates healthcare disparities faced by Deaf individuals using American Sign Language (ASL) in the emergency department (ED), focusing on their access to common care practices compared to hearing individuals.
  • - Data from ED visits in 2018 showed that Deaf ASL users were significantly less likely to receive laboratory tests, peripheral intravenous lines, and imaging compared to hearing patients, along with fewer hospital admissions.
  • - The findings indicate a systemic issue in the provision of ED care for Deaf patients, highlighting the need for further research to understand and address these disparities.
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Background And Aims: There is little RCT evidence that brief interventions improve treatment seeking in individuals with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) or treatment seeking reduces alcohol use. The aim was to test the efficacy of a brief intervention to increase treatment seeking in treatment naïve adults with severe AUD and measure its effects on alcohol use.

Design: Parallel group, non-pharmacologic RCT with intervention (n = 197) and active control (n = 203) conditions, with blinded assessors conducting follow-ups at 1, 3 and 6 months.

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Mobile response and stabilization services (MRSS) provide short-term, community-based, care to individuals in crisis. Minimal studies have explored which factors are associated with multiple episodes of MRSS care. We used a retrospective cohort design of MRSS electronic health records to explore demographic and clinical characteristics associated with multiple episodes of care among 2,641 youth ages 5-21 years old in New York, USA.

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Evidence demonstrating increased alcohol use during COVID-19 comes from low- to moderate-alcohol use samples and has yet to use adults with severe but untreated AUD. Using a community sample of adults with severe AUD, this exploratory, cross-sectional study examined associations of COVID-19 alcohol use. Participants were recruited for a phase-II RCT.

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Purpose: Mandatory COVID-19 shelter-in-place (SIP) orders have been imposed to fight the pandemic. They may also have led to unintended consequences of increased use of controlled substances especially among rural communities due to increased social isolation. Using the data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, this study tests the hypothesis that the poison control centers received higher rates of calls related to exposures to controlled substances from rural counties than they did from urban counties during the SIP period.

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Introduction: Research on treatment utilization for alcohol use disorder (AUD) is based primarily on clinical samples and community samples of low AUD severity that may not need formal care. Using a community sample of adults with untreated but severe AUD symptoms, we tested the hypothesis that alcohol-related consequences, but not alcohol consumption levels, are associated with the intention to seek AUD treatment, examined associations of specific types of alcohol-related consequences with intention, and explored sex differences in these associations.

Methods: The sample was recruited using social media ads for a randomized controlled trial to test a brief intervention to promote AUD treatment seeking.

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Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can promote person-centered biopsychosocial health care by measuring outcomes that matter to patients, including functioning and well-being. Data support feasibility and acceptability of PRO administration as part of routine clinical care, but less is known about its effects on population health, including detection of unmet healthcare needs. Our objectives were to examine differences in rates of clinically significant depression across sociodemographic groups and clinical settings from universal depression screens in a large health system, estimate the number of patients with untreated depression detected by screenings, and examine associations between biopsychosocial PROs-physical, psychological, and social health.

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Rates of harmful alcohol use are high among justice-involved individuals and may contribute to violent recidivism. Robust treatments for alcohol-related violence in criminal justice systems are thus a public health priority. In this analysis of existing randomized controlled trial data ( = 105), we examined the impact of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) for harmful substance use on violent recidivism among individuals in a pretrial jail diversion program.

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