All-cause mortality and residential racial and ethnic segregation and composition as experienced differently by individual-level race, ethnicity, and gender: Mortality disparities in american communities data.

Purpose: Use a large nationally representative population to evaluate whether differences in mortality in relation to residential racial and ethnic segregation and diversity varied by gender, and race or Hispanic ethnicity in the United States.

Methods: The Mortality Disparities in American Communities (MDAC) was used to evaluate mortality risk in relation to segregation. MDAC is a nationally representative record linkage of the 2008 American Community Survey data with mortality outcomes derived from the National Death Index through 2015.

Comparisons of individual- and area-level socioeconomic status as proxies for individual-level measures: evidence from the Mortality Disparities in American Communities study.

Background: Area-level measures are often used to approximate socioeconomic status (SES) when individual-level data are not available. However, no national studies have examined the validity of these measures in approximating individual-level SES.

Methods: Data came from ~ 3,471,000 participants in the Mortality Disparities in American Communities study, which links data from 2008 American Community Survey to National Death Index (through 2015).

Socioeconomic risk factors for fatal opioid overdoses in the United States: Findings from the Mortality Disparities in American Communities Study (MDAC).

Background: Understanding relationships between individual-level demographic, socioeconomic status (SES) and U.S. opioid fatalities can inform interventions in response to this crisis.

Pain interference and alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis use disorder in a national sample of substance users.

Background: Pain interference is associated with substance use, but has yet to be considered as a potential indicator of SUDs among substance users. We sought to examine whether moderate and high pain interference would confer risk for SUDs in ever and weekly users.

Methods: Using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between pain interference and concurrent and prospective alcohol and nicotine dependence, as well as concurrent cannabis use disorder.

Nurse practitioner independence, health care utilization, and health outcomes.

Many states allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice and prescribe drugs without physician oversight, increasing the number of autonomous primary care providers. We estimate the causal impact of NP independence on population health care utilization rates and health outcomes, exploiting variation in the timing of state law passage. We find that NP independence increases the frequency of routine checkups, improves care quality, and decreases emergency room use by patients with ambulatory care sensitive conditions.

Age of initiation, psychopathology, and other substance use are associated with time to use disorder diagnosis in persons using opioids nonmedically.

Background: Nonmedical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) is an ongoing public health challenge, as NMUPO is associated with psychopathology, other drug use, and fatal overdose. These concomitant risks are greatest in those with opioid use disorder (OUD), but the development of NMUPO-related use disorder is poorly understood. The primary aim of this study was to establish factors associated with the development of and time to OUD among persons engaged in NMUPO.

America's Churning Races: Race and Ethnicity Response Changes Between Census 2000 and the 2010 Census.

A person's racial or ethnic self-identification can change over time and across contexts, which is a component of population change not usually considered in studies that use race and ethnicity as variables. To facilitate incorporation of this aspect of population change, we show patterns and directions of individual-level race and Hispanic response change throughout the United States and among all federally recognized race/ethnic groups. We use internal U.

Quantifying the individual-level association between income and mortality risk in the United States using the National Longitudinal Mortality Study.

Policy makers would benefit from being able to estimate the likely impact of potential interventions to reverse the effects of rapidly rising income inequality on mortality rates. Using multiple cohorts of the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS), we estimate the absolute income effect on premature mortality in the United States. A multivariate Poisson regression using the natural logarithm of equivilized household income establishes the magnitude of the absolute income effect on mortality.

Identifying Demand Responses to Illegal Drug Supply Interdictions.

Successful supply-side interdictions into illegal drug markets are predicated on the responsiveness of drug prices to enforcement and the price elasticity of demand for addictive drugs. We present causal estimates that targeted interventions aimed at methamphetamine input markets ('precursor control') can temporarily increase retail street prices, but methamphetamine consumption is weakly responsive to higher drug prices. After the supply interventions, purity-adjusted prices increased then quickly returned to pre-treatment levels within 6-12 months, demonstrating the short-term effects of precursor control.

Quality of life and risk of psychiatric disorders among regular users of alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis: An analysis of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

Research is limited on the effects of regular substance use on mental health-related outcomes. We used a large nationally representative survey to examine current and future quality of life and risk of psychiatric disorders among past-year regular (weekly) users of alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis. Data on psychiatric disorders and quality of life from two waves (Wave 1 N = 43,093, Wave 2 N = 34,653) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to test study aims.

The association between nonmedical use of prescription medication status and change in health-related quality of life: results from a Nationally Representative Survey.

Background: Nonmedical use of prescription medication (NUPM) is associated cross-sectionally with a host of medical and psychosocial consequences. Few studies, however, have examined longitudinal outcomes based on NUPM indicators. This study aimed to address this gap by examining change in health-related quality of life as a function of NUPM status.