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Publications
Publications (50)
Background
Re-imprisonments are common among people in prison who use drugs. This study aims to describe sociodemographic factors, mental health and level of pre-prison substance use in a cohort of people in prison, and to investigate re-imprisonment during follow-up according to their level of pre-prison drug use.
Methods
This was a prospective s...
Background
Incarceration might contribute to increased mortality in an already marginalised population. A better understanding of the prison-related factors that are associated with mortality is important for preventing the negative health consequences of incarceration. We aimed to investigate all-cause and cause-specific mortality following releas...
Background:
A large proportion of the prison population experiences substance use disorders (SUDs), which are associated with poor physical and mental health, social marginalization, and economic disadvantage. Despite the global situation characterized by the incarceration of large numbers of people with SUD and the health problems associated with...
Background
The eleven-item Drug Use Disorder Identification Test (DUDIT) is a recommended screening tool, but its length may impede its use in prison intake assessments. Hence, we examined the performance of eight brief DUDIT screeners against the full DUDIT, employing a sample of male inmates.
Methods
Our study included male participants in the N...
BACKGROUND
A large proportion of the prison population experiences substance use disorders (SUDs), which are associated with poor physical and mental health, social marginalization, and economic disadvantage. Despite the global situation characterized by the incarceration of large numbers of people with SUD and the health problems associated with S...
Objectives
This paper demonstrates how to investigate the external validity of a study sample by triangulating survey and registry data, using data from the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) Study as a case.
Methods
We use survey data from the NorMA study ( n = 1495), including the NorMA cohort ( n = 733), and data from the No...
Background
Reductions in crime are often reported following substance use treatment. We explore the relationship between desistance from crime, treatment type, treatment retention and positive changes in known risk factors for crime.
Methods
We used data from the NorComt-study; a longitudinal study of substance users ( n = 341) enrolled in compreh...
A validation study of brief versions of the AUDIT (Alcohol Use disorder Identification Test) in a national prison sample
Background
People in prison have an extremely high risk of suicide. The aim of this paper is to describe all suicides in the Norwegian prison population from 2000 to 2016, during and following imprisonment; to investigate the timing of suicides; and to investigate the associations between risk of suicide and types of crime.
Methods
We used data fr...
Background
Whether brief versions of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) can be used as graded severity measures is largely unknown. We examined the performance of eight such brief screeners in a prison population, and compared their effectiveness in detecting hazardous drinking, harmful drinking, and possible alcohol dependence as...
SAMMENDRAG
Bakgrunn: Legemiddelbruk i den norske befolkningen er økende. Kunnskap om omfang, hvem brukerne er
og bruksmønster er en forutsetning for optimalisering av legemiddelbruk i alle grupper av
befolkningen. Samtidig finnes det ingen oppdaterte studier som viser bruk av forskrevne legemidler
blant innsatte i Norge. Hensikten med denne stud...
Background/aims:
Alcohol problems in the prison population are understudied, underdetected, and undertreated. Our aims were to identify subgroups of inmates whose pre-prison drinking behavior indicated a high need for alcohol-related interventions, to assess the prevalence of concurrent alcohol and drug problems, and to compare dual-dependent inma...
Introduction
Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) varies across settings and between countries. We plan to use data from several nationwide health and population registers to further improve the knowledge base established from earlier studies. Our aim is to study OMT adherence trajectories and to identify factors associated with improved outcomes for...
Background
To describe all suicides in the Norwegian prison population from 2000 to 2017, during and following imprisonment; to investigate the timing of suicides; and to investigate the associations between risk of suicide and types of crime.
Methods.
We used data from the Norwegian Prison Release study (nPRIS) including complete national register...
Objectives
To describe and explore somatic disease burdens of ageing long-term patients in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT), a unique population emerging in countries offering OMT as a long-term treatment.
Methods
We used data from the Norwegian Cohort of Patient in Opioid Maintenance Treatment and Other Drug Treatment Study (NorComt). 156 patie...
Background
Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use is associated with health problems and substance use. Substance use is common among inmates. This study aims to estimate lifetime and prison use of AAS and other substances, compare characteristics of groups of inmates, and describe factors associated with AAS use in a national prison population.
M...
Background:
Remarkably little is known about drug use during imprisonment, including whether it represents a continuation of pre-incarceration drug use, or whether prison is also a setting for drug use initiation. This paper aims to describe drug use among people in prison in Norway and investigate risk factors associated with in-prison drug use....
IntroductionMore than 30 million adults are released from incarceration globally each year. Many experience complex physical and mental health problems, and are at markedly increased risk of preventable mortality. Despite this, evidence regarding the global epidemiology of mortality following release from incarceration is insufficient to inform the...
Background:
The amount and quality of QoL instruments has improved greatly in the past several decades, and these measures are increasingly integrated into chronic disease management. However, populations that are both marginalized and burdened by complex health needs may not be served by existing tools. We focus on two such populations – substanc...
Background:
As the effect of opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) on overdose mortality varies both between and within countries, treatment programs need to be evaluated in different treatment settings and over time within settings. We evaluated variations in mortality in a national programme: from the initial rollout as restrictive and low-capacity...
The Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF) was commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate of Health to summarize existing research on heroin-assisted treatment for opioid-dependent persons, and to develop a proposal for Norway's first pilot project of such treatment. In this document, a two-site pilot project is proposed that enrolls 150-30...
Purpose – Measuring quality of life (QoL) under incarceration can be used to track successful rehabilitation and risk of re-offending. However, few studies have measured QoL among general incarcerated populations, and it is important to use psychometrically strong measures that pose minimal burdens to respondents and administrators. The paper aims...
Importance The research focus on children of parents with alcohol use disorder has eclipsed the potentially wider-reaching detrimental effects of subclinical parental drinking, both alone and in combination with other parental risk factors.
Objective To identify constellations of early parental risk characterized by variations in drinking, mental...
Exercise is increasingly understood as an important resource for people who engage in harmful substance use, including those in prison. Little is known about how inmates adopt various health behaviors during incarceration, without interventions. This cross-sectional study analyzed self-reports from 1464 inmates in Norwegian prisons in 2013-2014, co...
Presentasjon av 156 langtids LAR-pasienter i NorComt studien, med fokus på manglende sosiale nettverk og daglige aktiviteter.
Background: Exercise is increasingly understood as an important resource for people with harmful substance use, including those in prison. Little is known about how inmates adopt various health behaviors during incarceration, without interventions. Methods: This study analyzed self-reports from 1468 inmates in Norwegian prisons, compared them accor...
In this cross-sectional study of substance users in Norway, the authors describe the patterns of victimization and investigate the factors associated with victimization, for nonoffenders and offenders separately. Recent victimization was reported by 59%, and the victimization rate was higher among offenders compared with nonoffenders (69% and 43%,...
Introduction:
This study examines factors associated with criminal engagement among patients in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT).
Methods:
Questionnaire data recorded annually among 5654 patients in the Norwegian OMT programme between 2005 and 2010 from seven regional treatment centres were available for analyses. Each patient answered approxi...
Background and aims:
The time post-release from prison involves elevated mortality, especially overdose deaths. Variations in overdose mortality both by time since release from prison and time of release has not been sufficiently investigated. Our aims were to estimate and compare overdose death rates at time intervals after prison release and to...
Introduction
Psychotic experiences (PE) are relatively common in the general population. PE is associated with mental health impairment and may be predictive of clinical psychosis. Substance use predicts PE, but the association is insufficiently understood, particularly the role of illicit substances. The purpose of this study was to describe PE (v...
Introduction and aims:
Crime rates are high in substance-using populations; therefore, investigation of factors associated with crime in these populations is highly relevant. We describe crime prevalence and associations between crime, pattern of substance use and psychosocial factors, such as self-control and social network.
Design and methods:...
Although many studies have addressed adverse outcomes in children of parents with alcohol abuse/dependence, less is known about the possible long-term effects of more normative patterns of parental alcohol consumption, including drinking at lower risk levels and heavy episodic or binge drinking. The extent of harm from parental drinking may therefo...
The Norwegian prison inmates are burdened by problems before they enter prison. Few studies have managed to assess this burden and relate it to what occurs for the inmates once they leave the prison. The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) study is a large-scale longitudinal cohort study that combines national survey and registry...
This article considers the potential in using nationwide registers to study harm to others from substance use and abuse. The advantages of using registry data include the opportunity to include the data on the entire population nationwide and continuously updated longitudinal datasets; they allow for studying small subpopulations and have little mi...
Legemiddelassistert rehabilitering ved opioidavhengighet (LAR) ble introdusert i USA i 1960-årene. Behandlingen ble i Norge lenge avvist på prinsipielt grunnlag. Først i 1998 – etter sterk økning i overdosedødsfall utover i 1990-årene – ble LAR-behandling innført som et landsdekkende program. Det er fremdeles omstridt, og enkelte er kritiske til må...
Background:
Retention in treatment is often highlighted as one of the key indicators of success in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT).
Aims:
To identify factors associated with long-term retention in opioid maintenance treatment and to analyse predictors of subsequent treatment episodes.
Methods:
Treatment retention and re-entry were examined...
Background
The reduction of crime is an important outcome of opioid maintenance treatment (OMT). Criminal intensity and treatment regimes vary among OMT patients, but this is rarely adjusted for in statistical analyses, which tend to focus on cohort incidence rates and rate ratios. The purpose of this work was to estimate the relationship between t...
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/13/262/abstract
Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is associated with reduced crime among heroin users, but little is known about how crime changes during different phases of treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in criminal convictions on a day-to-day basis before and after entry or discharge from OMT.
National cohort study of all patients (...
AimsTo investigate convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) before, during and after opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) and to examine factors associated with convictions for DUI during treatment. Design, setting and participantsTreatment data on all patients who started OMT in Norway between 1997 and 2003 (n=3221) were cross-linked with n...
Although opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) has been found to reduce crime, less is known about its associations with violent crime. This study investigates changes in violent crime convictions prior to, during, and after OMT, and examines the relationship between violent crime convictions prior to OMT with the risk of violent and non-violent crime...
strong>
Aims:
Design : Official national criminal records were cross linked with all patients who started opioid maintenance treatment in Norway from 1997-2003 (n=3221), including patients from four different health regions in Norway; the Eastern region (n=1717), the Southern region (n=751), the Western region (n=586) and the Central-Northern re...
This study investigates changes in criminal involvement among patients in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) over a 7-year period prior to, during and after treatment, particularly in relation to differences in treatment engagement.
Treatment data on all patients who started OMT in Norway between 1997 and 2003 (n = 3221) were cross-linked with nati...
This study investigates frequency and types of criminal convictions among a national sample of heroin users during a 3-year period prior to opioid maintenance treatment (OMT). All heroin users (N = 3,789) in Norway who applied for and were eligible for OMT (1997-2003) were included. The OMT records were cross-linked to Norwegian crime statistics. D...
Projects
Projects (6)
The project aims are:
1.Enable long-term clinical and registry follow-up research by establishing a large national cohort of women (who used OMT-medication in pregnancy), their exposed children (births 2000 – 2024) and their partners
a. Evaluate outcomes of OMT-medication use during pregnancy, birth and parenthood and the current situation for the women and their partners
b. Study reward sensitivity among mothers and opioid-exposed adolescents/young adults
c. Increase knowledge about the outcomes and current situation of OMT-medication exposure in foetal life for the neonate, the child and the adolescent/young adult
d. Enable registry linkage in Norway and the Czech Republic, as well as linking clinical and registry data in Norway only
2.Assess the effect of interventions
a. Tobacco intervention in pregnancy
b. Tobacco intervention for the parents
c. Breastfeeding (neonatal outcomes for mothers who breastfeed vs those who do not)
3.Assess the implementation and possible effects and outcomes of relevant National Treatment Guidelines and Clinical pathways
a. “National Treatment Guidelines on OMT and pregnancy and the follow-up of families until the child reach six years”
b. “National Clinical Pathways on Pregnancy and Substance Use”
4.Evaluate the present situation for OMT- exposed young people
a. Including Quality of Life (QoL), mental health, social life, school/education/work, use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances
b. The follow-up they have received and present service involvement/follow-up
5.Study the knowledge, attitudes and stigma related to OMT medication use in pregnancy and parenthood
a. Among parents of OMT medication exposed children and professionals in the municipalities and specialized health care services
b. Explore how the cooperation between the parents of OMT-exposed children and the professionals in municipality and health care services is perceived by the parties involved
The aim of the PRISONHEALTH project is to provide new and groundbreaking knowledge about the effects of high-quality in-prison healthcare services and the potential of ‘healthy prisons’.
PISONHEALTH was established in 2020 and is lead by professor Thomas Ugelvik. The project enjoys valuable input from an interdisciplinary research group.
The aims in IPOT project are to determine the contribution of injury-specific, biopsychosocial, and geographic factors in the risk of experiencing traumatic events, and the post injury development of long-term pain, disability, and persistent use of prescribed drugs with abuse potential. These aims are detailed in several ongoing sub-projects that are initiated and led by the IPOT group.
