COVID-19 Risks and Outcomes With Substance Use Disorders (Ep. 149)

Matt Finch does a solo-cast on the recent data complied which analyzes COVID-19 risks amongst people with substance use disorder (SUD). According to the study, people with SUD have significantly higher risks for COVID-19.

Here are the topics discussed in this episode:

• A new study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Molecular Psychiatry, on COVID-19 risks and outcomes with substance use disorders:
  • Patients with a recent SUD diagnosis had a significantly higher risk of developing COVID-19.
    • Among patients with SUD subtypes:
      • Opioid use disorder (OUD) had the largest risk for contracting the virus
      • Tobacco use disorder (TUD) had the second-highest risk
      • Alcohol use disorder (OUD) had the third-highest risk
      • Cocaine use disorder (CUD) had the fourth-highest risk
    • Patients with SUD often have comorbidities, including:
      • Cardiovascular diseases
      • Pulmonary diseases
      • Metabolic diseases
      • Increased susceptibility to infections
        • These comorbidities are all risk factors for COVID-19
    • Among patients with SUD:
      • Seniors were more likely to contract COVID-19 than adults
      • African Americans were more likely to develop COVID-19 than Caucasians
      • Of the 3 demographics studied, race was the factor that had the biggest effect determining COVID-19 risk
      • African American patients with OUD had significantly higher COVID-19 risk than Caucasians
    • Compared to Caucasians, African Americans with a recent diagnosis of SUDs had a higher prevalence of:
      • Asthma
      • Chronic kidney disease
      • Type 2 diabetes
      • Hypertension
      • Obesity
      • HIV
    • For rates of deaths and hospitalizations in COVID-19 patients with lifetime SUD:
      • 9.57% of the patients died
      • The death rates for SUD subtypes were not examined due to their small sample size
      • 40.96% of patients with lifetime SUD were hospitalized
      • 43.81% of patients with a recent diagnosis of SUD were hospitalized

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