Suchergebnisse

The objective of this research was to examine whether users of mental health or substance abuse (MH/SA) services incurred greater costs for non-MH/SA services than nonusers of MH/SA services. Two years of health care utilization data were collected on 443 at-risk drinkers from six southern U.S. states. We then examined predictors of using MH/SA services and costs associated with non-MH/SA services. The results showed that use of MH/SA services was associated with female gender, military service, health insurance, and not being employed full-time. Unadjusted analyses indicated that non-MH/SA service costs were significantly higher among MH/SA service users than nonusers. However, this association did not endure in multivariable models. In fact, emergency department costs were significantly lower among MH/SA users. It is commonly assumed that users of MH/SA services are also heavy users of other medical services. Through multivariable models, this study found that overall costs of non-MH/SA services were similar between users and nonusers of MH/SA services.

Lower socioeconomic status African American and Hispanic women suffer from later-stage detection of breast cancer and higher mortality rates than other American women. Low-cost mobile mammography offers one approach to mitigate this problem. This article identifies the economic costs and cost-effectiveness of operating a mobile mammography program targeting indigent populations. Costs are derived from a current mobile mammography service for a range of operating volume conditions and are applied to different detection rates to determine the cost-effectiveness of programs designed to reach different age, racial, and ethnic segments of indigent populations. Results from this work have broad policy implications and form a foundation for future economic and policy analysis in this area.

Significant support exists in the United States for legalization of marijuana/cannabis. As of 2021, 36 states and four territories approved the legalization of medical cannabis via medical marijuana laws (MMLs), and 15 states and District of Columbia (DC) have adopted recreational marijuana laws (RMLs). We performed structured and systematic searches of articles published from 2010 through September 2021. We assess the literature pertaining to adolescent marijuana use; opioid use and opioid-related outcomes; alcohol use; tobacco use; illicit and other drug use; marijuana growing and cultivation; employment, earnings, and other workplace outcomes; academic achievement and performance; criminal activity; perceived harmfulness; traffic and road safety; and suicide and sexual activity. Overall, 113 articles satisfied our inclusion criteria. Except for opioids, studies on use of other substances (illicit drugs, tobacco, and alcohol) were inconclusive. MMLs and RMLs do not generate negative outcomes in the labor market, lead to greater criminal activity, or reduce traffic and road safety.

Despite the numerous efforts to curb substance use and abuse through legislation and interventions, marijuana consumption continues to be a major social problem, particularly among young adults in the United States. We provide new information on the relationship between cannabis use and antisocial behavior by analyzing a sample of young adults (aged 18–20) from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). We examine a broad set of cannabis use patterns and multiple dimensions of antisocial behaviors and test the empirical importance of two prominent criminological theories—general strain and social bond—in explaining associations between cannabis use and antisocial behavior. We include important socioeconomic, demographic, health and health behaviors, and contextual information in all regressions to control for confounding factors. Our results imply that cannabis use is positively and significantly related to antisocial behavior among young adults, and general strain and social bond theories cannot fully explain our findings. As expected, the estimated association with antisocial behavior is stronger for more frequent cannabis users.

This study performed a cost‐effectiveness analysis (CEA) of the Amity in‐prison Therapeutic Community (TC) and Vista aftercare programs for criminal offenders in California. For the average treatment participant, the cost of treatment was $4,112, which led to approximately fifty‐one fewer days incarcerated (36% less) than the average individual in the control group. This implies that, for the average offender, treatment reduced recidivism at a cost of $80 per incarceration day. For participants who received both in‐prison treatment and aftercare services, an additional day of incarceration was avoided at a cost of $51 per day relative to those that received in‐prison treatment only.