Public Health Commons^™

Evaluating The Prevalence Of Postpartum Substance Use In South Jersey, Hebba Ahmad, Joanna Petrides

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of substance use among women who experience postpartum depression. Looking at South Jersey women in particular, we aimed to compare the rates of women who began to engage in substance use after undergoing labor within the past one year who are covered by private health insurance versus those with Medicaid coverage. A retrospective chart review was performed, and although the small sample size limited our attempts at data analysis, it revealed that there is work to be done in this field. There needs to be methods in reducing the stigma …

Release The Kratom: Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome In A 70 Year Old Male, Nardin El-Shammaa, Kyle Street, Narshima Pinninti

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Centuries in Eastern medicine.. Kratom has been commonly used for chronic pain and opiate withdrawal symptoms with first reported cases in the United States in the early 2000s. It is a plant that consists of psychoactive alkaloids that target opioid receptors with different affinity. Effects from Kratom are dose-dependent, at lower doses, it acts as a stimulant, while at higher doses produces analgesia and euphoria. Although Kratom is legal and easily accessible over the counter, there have been increasing reports of potential for addiction and toxicity. Cessation of Kratom can result in withdrawal symptoms similar to opiate withdrawal. Here we …

Challenges To Implementing Screening, Brief Intervention, And Referral To Treatment (Sbirt) For Substance Use In Primary Care Settings At Rowan-Virtua, Alissa Hochman, Kristy Straub, Nancy Chase, Samuel Damiri, Jenna Destefano, Allyson Distel, Sana Farhat

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background and Purpose: Implementing the SBIRT model for substance use in a primary care setting has many benefits including normalizing conversations about alcohol and other substance use into patients’ visits, thereby reducing harm, reducing consumption and its negative impact, and promoting system changes to overcome barriers to treatment access. The full scope of the current SBIRT project involves the recruitment, hiring, training, and integration of health educators in 9 primary care sites throughout South Jersey, as well as a project supervisor serving as implementation lead and liaison to medical and administrative staff at all 9 primary care sites. Initial barriers …

Growing Use Of Xylazine As An Adulterant In Opioids And Its Effects, Oluwapelumi Oluwo

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Xylazine, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a non-opioid tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine. Although this drug has not been approved for human use, it can be linked to an increase in opioid overdose deaths due to its role as an adulterant in drugs like fentanyl.

Xylazine was detected in drugs involved in 41% of all opioid-involved unintentional deaths and in 44% of all unintentional overdose deaths with fentanyl involved in the year of 2021 in Philadelphia.

Case Report And Review: Promethazine ("Purple Drank") Abuse, Riya Tandra, James Espinosa, Alan Lucerna

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

A 23 year old female was brought to the Emergency Department by EMS for confusion and aggressive behavior. The friends told EMS that the patient had been ingesting "purple drank" and that she had told her friends that she made the concoction with promethazine and opiate cough syrup with some vodka added. She mixed it in a carbonated soda. “Purple Drank” or “Lean” is a combination of codeine promethazine hydrochloride and soda or alcohol that has frequently been misused since the 1990s. This paper aims to highlight the recent resurgence of promethazine abuse occurring in the United States as well …

A Systematic Review Of The Barriers Of Opioid Addiction Treatment For Young Adult Males (Ages 18-26) Living In Low Income Areas In The United States Of America, Atish Gandhi, Asim Shafique, Jillian Baker

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

NOTE: This is a broad literature review, not a systematic review.

This systematic review aims to analyze the reasons behind reduced access to opioid addiction treatment for individuals of low socioeconomic standing. Understanding these barriers may allow communities to build a more comprehensive plan to lower addiction rates. In addition, this review will be examining further developments of theopioid crisis due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The literature search used publications from the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, and NCBI. The keywords searched were “opioid addiction”, “substance abuse”, “low-income area”, “barriers to treatment”, “young male addiction”, “opioid treatment”, “Narcan”. There …

Family-Centered Training And Therapy As Substance Abuse Intervention In Adolescents, Ryan St. John, Cam'ron Klotz, Muskaan Bibi, Archana Salek, Health Careers Opportunity Program - Rowansom, Rowan University

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

We hypothesized that providing mental health resources for adolescents and educating their parents and families would decrease the prevalence of substance abuse in the Camden, NJ community given that overdose death had risen 138% from 2014-2018. Educating parents and families on the importance of adolescents dealing with mental disorders may help evaluate the mental stability of their child and prevent them from turning to illicit substance to cope. Increasing the communication and the availability of resources for adolescents to turn to before resorting to illicit substances can have beneficial effects.

Barriers To Alternative Narcotic Education And Treatment In Young Adults In New Jersey, Shubh Bhambri

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The purpose of this study is to determine alternative methods and programs that result in better outcomes for young adults dealing with opioid addiction in New Jersey while identifying potential barriers that prevent the implementation of these programs.

Opioid Lifeline Community Service Project, Ekrem Cetinkaya, Cam'ron Klotz, Harvy Patel

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of thousands of people over the last decade due to overprescribing, synthetic opioids, and lack of treatment options. Project Opioid Lifeline was created as a mission to combat this issue by equipping the Camden County, NJ population with the necessary information to advocate for themselves and others. This project aims to find and centralize available resources for residents of Camden County by including addiction treatment centers, Narcan training and distribution, and unused medication drop off locations. Over the last nine months, partnerships were formed with community leaders and organizations, such as the Neuromusculoskeletal …