Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34815283›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Multimorbidity, psychoactive substance use and psychological distress among acute medically ill patients: a cross-sectional study.

Saranda Kabashi, Danil Gamboa, Vigdis Vindenes, Thomas Berg, Thor Arthur Hilberg, Benedicte Jørgenrud, Anners Lerdal, Stig Tore Bogstrand

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 30% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Predicting drug overdose and death after "before medically advised" hospital discharge.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Saranda KabashiDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway rmsaka@ous-hf.no.ORCID 0000-0002-6638-8015
Danil GamboaDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-8064-779X
Vigdis VindenesDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Thomas BergDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Thor Arthur HilbergFürst Medical Laboratory, Oslo, Norway.
Benedicte JørgenrudDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Anners LerdalDepartment of Interdiciplinary Health Sciencies, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-7144-5096
Stig Tore BogstrandDepartment of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Oslo University Hospital · NOUniversity of Oslo · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn order to target the complex health needs of patients with multimorbidity using psychoactive substances, knowledge regarding the association between substance use and multimorbidity in an acute setting is needed.

aimsExamine psychoactive substance use patterns among acute medically ill patients, and determine the association between multimorbidity and substance use, and psychological distress.

designCross-sectional study. SETTING AND

participants2874 acute medically ill patients admitted to a medical emergency department in Oslo, Norway. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome: multimorbidity recorded by the presence of ≥2 International Classification of Diseases 10th revision-physical and/or mental health conditions per patient, extracted from medical records. Predictor variables: self-reported data on age, sex, occupational status, psychological distress (Hopkins Symptom Check List-5), alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-4) and results from blood samples on psychoactive medicinal and illicit drugs.

findingsOf all patients, 57.2% had multimorbidity. Of these, 62.6% reported psychological distress, 85.5% consumed either alcohol, medicinal and/or illicit drugs and 64.4% combined alcohol with psychoactive medicinal drugs. Patients with risky alcohol use were more likely to have multimorbidity compared with patients with low-risk alcohol use (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.05 to 2.24). Patients using psychoactive medicinal drugs were more likely to have multimorbidity compared with non-users (OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.67).

conclusionMultimorbidity was associated with psychoactive medicinal drug and risky alcohol use, and psychological distress. Substance use was widespread, with alcohol and psychoactive medicinal drugs most frequently combined. Monitoring substance use among multimorbid patients is necessary to develop tailored treatments, and reduce burden on the healthcare system.

Indexed as

Illicit DrugsPsychological DistressSubstance-Related DisordersCross-Sectional StudiesHumansMultimorbidityIllicit Drugsepidemiologyinternal medicinemental health

Identifiers

PMID34815283
PMCPMC8611427
OpenAlexW3216191976

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.