ReviewDrug and alcohol dependence2020
The state of the science in opioid policy research.
Review in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Punitive legal responses to prenatal drug use in the United States: A survey of state policies and systematic review of their public health impacts.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review of the emerging literature on the effectiveness of naloxone access laws in the United States.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Pooled it
- Young adult polysubstance use trajectories and later non-prescribed opioid use and drug use disorder symptoms: A propensity score-matched analysis.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Assessing bias and precision in state policy evaluations: a comparative analysis of time-varying estimators using policy simulations.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- From Research Influencers to Substance Use Policymakers: Bibliometrics Demonstrate Translation From Research to Policy.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- Changes in Opioid Prescription Patterns Following Implementation of the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Choosing an analytic approach: key study design considerations in state policy evaluation.Health services & outcomes research methodology · 2026Article
- Narrative Review of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Impact on American Indian/Alaska Native Communities.Nursing open · 2026Review
- Prenatal drug use criminalization and health system avoidance: Evidence from births in Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee, 1989-2019.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Regulating quasi-legal markets: Evidence from pain management clinic laws.Journal of public economics · 2025Article
- Creating a Classification System of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Policies: A Research Protocol.Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Article
- Opioid deprescribing: rethinking policies to facilitate better patient outcomes.Pain management · 2025Review
- Persistent Opioid Use Following Major Orthopedic Surgery.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Using GPT-4 for Title and Abstract Screening in a Literature Review of Public Policies: A Feasibility Study.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2025Article
- Naloxone Knowledge, Carrying, Purchase, and Use.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- The association of state policies and opioid analgesic amount dispensed from retail pharmacies.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Community coalitions' navigation of policies to address the opioid epidemic: insights from qualitative interviews in four states.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- High-Dose Opioid Prescribing in Individuals with Acute Pain: Assessing the Effects of US State Opioid Policies.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- The Impact of Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease Exclusion Waivers on the Availability of Substance Abuse Treatment Services and the Varying Effect by Ownership Type.The Milbank quarterly · 2024Article
- Urine drug testing in the context of opioid analgesic prescribing for chronic pain: a content analysis of U.S. state laws in 2022.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveCharacterize the state of the science in opioid policy research based on a literature review of opioid policy studies.
methodsWe conducted a scoping review of studies evaluating the impact of U.S. state-level and federal-level policies on opioid-related outcomes published in 2005-2018. We characterized: 1) state and federal policies evaluated, 2) opioid-related outcomes examined, and 3) study design and analytic methods (summarized overall and by policy category).
resultsIn total, 145 studies were reviewed (79 % state-level policies, 21 % federal-level policies) and classified with respect to 8 distinct policy categories and 7 outcome categories. The majority of studies evaluated policies related to prescription opioids (prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), opioid prescribing policies, federal regulation of prescription opioids, pain clinic laws) and considered policy impacts with respect to proximal outcomes (e.g., opioid prescribing behaviors). In total, only 29 (20 % of studies) met each of three key criteria for rigorous design: analysis of longitudinal data with a comparison group design, adjustment for difference between policy-enacting and comparison states, and adjustment for potentially confounding co-occurring policies. These more rigorous studies were predominately published in 2017-2018 and primarily evaluated PDMPs, marijuana laws, treatment-related policies, and overdose prevention policies.
conclusionsOur results indicated that study design rigor varied notably across policy categories, highlighting the need for broader adoption of rigorous methods in the opioid policy field. More evaluation studies are needed regarding overdose prevention policies and policies related to treatment access. Greater examination of distal outcomes and potential unintended consequences are also warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.