COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorder: Study Protocol for the International Society of Addiction Medicine Practice and Policy Interest Group Global Survey

Alexander Baldacchino; Seyed Ramin Radfar; Cornelis De Jong; Parnian Rafei; Masud Yunesian; Gilberto Gerra; Kathleen Brady; Mohsen Ebrahimi; Mehrnoosh Vahidi; Arash Khojasteh Zonoozi; Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili; Anja Busse; Elizabeth Saenz; Giovanna Campello; Kamran Niaz; Hamed Ekhtiari; Ali Farhoudian

doi:10.32598/bcn.11.covid19.2545.1

COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorder: Study Protocol for the International Society of Addiction Medicine Practice and Policy Interest Group Global Survey

Basic Clin Neurosci. 2020 Mar-Apr;11(2):155-162. doi: 10.32598/bcn.11.covid19.2545.1. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Authors

Alexander Baldacchino¹, Seyed Ramin Radfar², Cornelis De Jong³, Parnian Rafei⁴, Masud Yunesian⁵, Gilberto Gerra⁶, Kathleen Brady⁷, Mohsen Ebrahimi⁸, Mehrnoosh Vahidi⁹, Arash Khojasteh Zonoozi¹⁰, Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili¹¹, Anja Busse¹², Elizabeth Saenz¹², Giovanna Campello¹², Kamran Niaz¹³, Hamed Ekhtiari¹⁴, Ali Farhoudian¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Population and Behavioral Sciences, St Andrews University Medical School, University of St Andrews, UK.
² Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, The Netherlands.
⁴ Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division for Operations, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, USA.
⁸ Department of Semiconductors, Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC), Tehran, Iran.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
¹⁰ Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
¹¹ Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Ibn-e-Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
¹² Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section; Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division for Operations, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria.
¹³ Research and Trend Analysis Branch, Division for Policy Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria.
¹⁴ Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Substance Abuse and Dependence Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: As one of the major health problems in the present century, the COVID-19 pandemic affected all parts of the global communities and the health of substance users are potentially at a greater risk of harm. This global study has been designed and conducted by the International Society of Addiction Medicine Practice and Policy Interest Group (ISAM-PPIG) to understand better the health related issues of people with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) as well as responses of the relevant health care systems during the pandemic.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using convenient sampling. The data gathering was carried out with two follow-up stages each two months apart through an online conducted survey prepared using Google platform. The survey started by emergence of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020 and respondents were followed till September 2020 when most of the initial lockdowns by most countries are supposed to be reopened.

Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the ethics committee of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. The results will be published in relevant peer reviewing journals and communicated with different international stakeholders.

Keywords: COVID-19; Country response; Disaster medicine; Drug addiction; Health policy; Health surveys; Mental health Services; Opiate substitution treatment; Pandemics; Public health; SARS-CoV-2; Substance-related disorders; Telemedicine.