Objective: To investigate age-related differences in health risk behaviors in 11-12-, 13-14-, and 15-16-year-old adolescents with physical disabilities. Methods: Health survey data from 319 adolescents with physical disabilities were compared with the same data from 7,020 adolescents in a national sample. Results: Significant age-related differences were found for having tried smoking, smoking, having tasted an […]
Abstract Topics: Substance Abuse
The relationship of spinal cord injury trauma to alcohol misuse: a study of monozygotic twins.
Background: Substance misuse frequently is correlated with serious trauma such as spinal cord injury (SCI). Two hypotheses to this effect are (a) substance abuse predates injury and is a risk factor or trigger for serious injury such as SCI; or (b)substance abuse begins postinjury, and alcohol or other drugs are used to ameliorate the physical […]
Posttraumatic stress disorder in primary care: a hidden diagnosis.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common worldwide, with prevalence rates ranging from 1% to nearly 40%, depending on the population studied. The disability and natural course of PTSD in psychiatric patients have been well characterized. However, even though the primary care setting has been described as the “de facto mental health care system,” surprisingly little […]
Comparative research on substance abuse and self-perception among adolescents with physical handicap.
The research on substance (alcohol, tobacco and drug) abuse and on self-perception was done by comparing a test group of physically disabled adolescents and a test group of non-disabled adolescents. The respondents of the experimental group were students of the only special high school for physically handicapped persons in Croatia , Zagreb . The respondents […]
Disabilities, quality of life, and mental disorders associated with smoking and nicotine dependence.
Objective: Epidemiological studies have reported an association between smoking and mental disorders. However, little is known about the impairment associated with nicotine dependence. Methods: The authors assessed health-related quality of life, disability, and psychiatric comorbidity in adults with and without nicotine dependence. The analysis was based on data from 3,293 respondents, ages 18 to 65, […]
Health problems of women with severe mental illness.
Purpose: To provide a review of the health problems of women with severe mental illness (SMI) that are related to their psychiatric disorders and disabilities, prolonged use of psychotropic medications, and high-risk lifestyle practices. Data Sources: Review of current literature uncovered through MEDLINE, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health, and Psychological Abstracts as well […]
State policy and practice regarding substance abuse treatment services for medicaid recipients with disabilities.
This article presents the results of an exploratory study conducted to identify best practice Medicaid managed care models for people with disabilities who need substance abuse treatment services. These results suggest that there is wide variation in the managed care strategies that states use to provide substance abuse treatment services to the SSI disabled population, […]
A typology of alcohol use patterns among persons with recent traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury: implications for treatment matching.
Objective: To describe empirically valid and clinically meaningful types of alcohol use among persons with recent traumatic brain or spinal cord injury. Design: Cross-sectional cohort survey. Setting: Acute inpatient rehabilitation program in a level I trauma center. Participants: A total of 218 (87%) of 250 consecutive initial admissions who met inclusion criteria and completed interviews. […]
Use of substance abuse treatment services by persons with mental health and substance use problems.
Objective: This study provided population estimates of mental syndromes and substance use problems and examined whether the co-occurrence of mental health and substance use problems was associated with the use of substance abuse treatment services. Methods: Study data were drawn from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Results: Of the total sample of […]
Post-injury substance abuse among persons with brain injury and persons with spinal cord injury.
Objective: To identify the patient population at greatest risk for post-injury adjustment problems, the present study independently examines and compares alcohol and drug use rates in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and patients with spinal cord injury. Research Design: The two samples were matched with regard to age, gender and mechanism of injury. The […]