Substance use and its consequences have major implications for health in most, perhaps all, settings worldwide—ranging from the pervasive effects of legally-consumed alcohol for people in many countries to the ongoing epidemic of opioid misuse and overdose affecting people in North America and elsewhere. Approaches to prevention and treatment of substance use and misuse span public health and medicine as well as criminal justice and legal systems, and the aim of PLOS Medicine’s Special Issue on Substance Use, Misuse and Dependence is to showcase research and debate in this important and challenging area.
In this month’s Editorial, Guest Editors Alexander Tsai, Margarita Alegria and Steffanie Strathdee discuss some of the papers in the accompanying Special Issue alongside broader issues in health policy and practice.
Image Credit: Jacksoncam, Flickr
Editorial
Addressing the context and consequences of substance use, misuse, and dependence: A global imperative
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003000
Perspectives
Amniotic fluid embolism: A puzzling and dangerous obstetric problem
PLOS Medicine: published November 12, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002976
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Joint statement on EPA proposed rule and public availability of data (2019)
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003014
Policy Forum
Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002969
Research Articles
Trends in prescription opioid use and dose trajectories before opioid use disorder or overdose in US adults from 2006 to 2016: A cross-sectional study
PLOS Medicine: published November 5, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002941
Prescription opioid use and misuse among adolescents and young adults in the United States: A national survey study
PLOS Medicine: published November 5, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002922
Substance use disorders in refugee and migrant groups in Sweden: A nationwide cohort study of 1.2 million people
PLOS Medicine: published November 5, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002944
The Kidney Failure Risk Equation for prediction of end stage renal disease in UK primary care: An external validation and clinical impact projection cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published November 6, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002955
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Oxygen systems to improve clinical care and outcomes for children and neonates: A stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial in Nigeria
PLOS Medicine: published November 11, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002951
Suspected heroin-related overdoses incidents in Cincinnati, Ohio: A spatiotemporal analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 12, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002956
Testosterone replacement in young male cancer survivors: A 6-month double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial
PLOS Medicine: published November 12, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002960
Variation in blood pressure and long-term risk of dementia: A population-based cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published November 12, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002933
Risk factors, management, and outcomes of amniotic fluid embolism: A multicountry, population-based cohort and nested case-control study
PLOS Medicine: published November 12, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002962
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Associations of maternal quitting, reducing, and continuing smoking during pregnancy with longitudinal fetal growth: Findings from Mendelian randomization and parental negative control studies
PLOS Medicine: published November 13, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002972
Comparisons of exacerbations and mortality among regular inhaled therapies for patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 15, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002958
Defining a recovery-oriented cascade of care for opioid use disorder: A community-driven, statewide cross-sectional assessment
PLOS Medicine: published November 19, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002963
Frequency of cannabis and illicit opioid use among people who use drugs and report chronic pain: A longitudinal analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 19, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002967
Current situation and progress toward the 2030 health-related Sustainable Development Goals in China: A systematic analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 19, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002975
Duration of type 2 diabetes and remission rates after bariatric surgery in Sweden 2007–2015: A registry-based cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published November 20, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002985
Noncompletion and nonpublication of trials studying rare diseases: A cross-sectional analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 21, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002966
Supervised injection facility use and all-cause mortality among people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002964
Long-term mortality in mothers of infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome: A population-based parallel-cohort study in England and Ontario, Canada
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002974
Prescription of benzodiazepines, z-drugs, and gabapentinoids and mortality risk in people receiving opioid agonist treatment: Observational study based on the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Office for National Statistics death records
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002965
The CHIRPY DRAGON intervention in preventing obesity in Chinese primary-school--aged children: A cluster-randomised controlled trial
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002971
Heavy and binge alcohol drinking and parenting status in the United States from 2006 to 2018: An analysis of nationally representative cross-sectional surveys
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002954
Opioid agonist treatment scale-up and the initiation of injection drug use: A dynamic modeling analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002973
Corrections
Correction: Role of heme in lung bacterial infection after trauma hemorrhage and stored red blood cell transfusion: A preclinical experimental study
PLOS Medicine: published November 13, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002991
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Correction: Mother’s dietary quality during pregnancy and offspring’s dietary quality in adolescence: Follow-up from a national birth cohort study of 19,582 mother–offspring pairs
PLOS Medicine: published November 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003004