Abstract

During the pandemic, the US has seen increases in substance use and the number of deaths by overdose. This study aimed to identify specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those with SUD. Specifically, we catalogued the perceptions and impact of the pandemic on mental health, sobriety, access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and utility of telehealth in the treatment of SUD. Findings showed important perceptions patients had lower agreement on the difficulty of staying sober compared to COVID-19’s effects on mental health and high agreement on openness to telehealth as treatment. Researchers and clinicians must continue efforts to understand and ameliorate the disproportionate burden in morbidity and mortality in individuals with SUD.

摘要

在大流行期间，美国的物质使用和过量服用死亡人数有所增加。本研究旨在确定 COVID-19 大流行对 SUD 患者的具体影响。具体来说，我们对大流行对心理健康、清醒、获得阿片类药物使用障碍 (MOUD) 药物的获取和远程医疗在 SUD 治疗中的效用的看法和影响进行了分类。调查结果显示，与 COVID-19 对心理健康的影响相比，患者对保持清醒的难度的共识较低，而对远程医疗作为治疗的开放性的共识较高。研究人员和临床医生必须继续努力了解和减轻 SUD 患者的发病率和死亡率不成比例的负担。