Observational studyAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2020
Does Reducing Drinking in Patients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Improve Pain Interference, Use of Other Substances, and Psychiatric Symptoms?
Observational study in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reporting of Observational Studies Explicitly Aiming to Emulate Randomized Trials: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Is Abstinence from Alcohol and Smoking Associated with Less Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Among People with HIV?AIDS and behavior · 2024Trial
- Health Benefits of Screening for Co-occurring Alcohol-, Substance-, and Mood-related Conditions for At-Risk Populations: A Mathematical Modeling Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Pain and unhealthy alcohol use among people living with HIV: A prospective cohort study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Article
- Associations Between Reductions in Depressive Symptoms and Reductions in Pain and Anxiety Symptoms and Substance Use: Emulation of a Randomized Trial.AJPM focus · 2024Article
- Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Produces Sex-Specific Long-term Hyperalgesia via Changes in Central Amygdala Circuit Function.Biological psychiatry · 2024Article
- Implementation of the trial emulation approach in medical research: a scoping review.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Article
- Cessation of self-reported opioid use and impacts on co-occurring health conditions.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Adolescent ethanol drinking promotes hyperalgesia, neuroinflammation and serotonergic deficits in mice that persist into adulthood.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Cannabis use, pain interference, and prescription opioid receipt among persons with HIV: a target trial emulation study.AIDS care · 2022Article
- Integrating Screening and Treatment of Unhealthy Alcohol Use and Depression with Screening and Treatment of Anxiety, Pain, and Other Substance Use Among People with HIV and Other High-Risk Persons.AIDS and behavior · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWe aimed to investigate the impact of reducing drinking in patients with unhealthy alcohol use on improvement of chronic pain interference, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms.
methodsWe analyzed longitudinal data from 2003 to 2015 in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective, multisite observational study of US veterans, by emulating a hypothetical randomized trial (a target trial). Alcohol use was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and outcome conditions were assessed via validated survey items. Individuals were followed from the first time their AUDIT score was ≥ 8 (baseline), a threshold consistent with unhealthy alcohol use. We compared individuals who reduced drinking (AUDIT < 8) at the next follow-up visit with individuals who did not (AUDIT ≥ 8). We fit separate logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios for improvement of each condition 2 years postbaseline among individuals who had that condition at baseline: moderate or severe pain interference symptoms, tobacco smoking, cannabis use, cocaine use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Inverse probability weighting was used to account for potential selection bias and confounding.
resultsAdjusted 2-year odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for associations between reducing drinking and improvement or resolution of each condition were as follows: 1.49 (0.91, 2.42) for pain interference symptoms, 1.57 (0.93, 2.63) for tobacco smoking, 1.65 (0.92, 2.95) for cannabis use, 1.83 (1.03, 3.27) for cocaine use, 1.11 (0.64, 1.92) for depressive symptoms, and 1.33 (0.80, 2.22) for anxiety symptoms.
conclusionsWe found some evidence for improvement of pain interference symptoms and substance use after reducing drinking among US veterans with unhealthy alcohol use, but confidence intervals were wide.
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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.