Nitigna Desai

Boston University | BU · Department of Psychiatry

Objective Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of both extended-release injectable naltrexone (XR-NTX) and buprenorphine/naloxone (BUP-NX) in the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). However, studies using real-world samples with multiple medical and psychiatric comorbidities are lacking. The study’s primary aims were to: (1) com...

Background: Long acting intramuscular (IM) naltrexone is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), but rates and correlates of its use have not been studied. Methods: National administrative from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) from Fiscal Year 2012 identified only 16 VHA facilities that prescribed IM naltrexone to 5 or more...

To the Editor We want to thank Martins et al¹ for their direction as we attempt to navigate and remap the current opioid epidemic’s vexing domestic landscape. As Martins et al¹ reported, there was a 5-fold increase in heroin use and 3-fold increase in heroin use disorders from 2001 to 2013, which have likely contributed to the rise of US opioid-rel...

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an important and timely clinical issue particularly for combat veterans. Few pharmacologic options are available to treat PTSD, particularly among military personnel, and they are not based on rational neurobiology. The evidence for noradrenergic dysregulation in PTSD is strong, and the alpha-adr...

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are associated with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid alcohol use disorders. The pharmacotherapy of these comorbid conditions has received relatively little study. The current study compared the serotonin uptake inhibitor, paroxetine, to the norepinephrine uptake inhibitor, desipramine...

The current study provides naturalistic data documenting the pathways to care to vocational services (VS) for 80 adults who were receiving some form of mental health care through a New Hampshire state mental health service and who had an unmet vocational need but were not currently enrolled in VS. Of the participants, 81.2% had recognized their voc...

We tested the validity of the ASAM Patient Placement Criteria (PPC) using the first complete and reliable computerized implementation of these criteria. Adult U.S. veterans (N = 95) seeking substance abuse treatment were blindly assessed for level of care need according to the PPC but were naturalistically assigned by counselors to residential reha...

This study explored the proposition that denial of addiction is often more a product of cognitive failure due to cerebral dysfunction than an emotion-driven rejection of the truth. Forty-four subjects were studied in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program. Denial was defined as the proportion of standardized denial-related treatment goals esta...

This study explored the proposition that denial of addiction is often more a product of cognitive failure due to cerebral dysfunction than an emotion-driven rejection of the truth. Forty-four subjects were studied in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program. Denial was defined as the proportion of standardized denial-related treatment goals esta...