Pharmacological Treatment of Polysubstance Exposed Newborns
Faculty Mentor
Alyson Chroust
Mentor Home Department
Psychology
Short Abstract
Polysubstance exposure is associated with increased severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in infants. The recommended treatment for pregnant women with opioid use disorder includes medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with the use of opioid agonists such as buprenorphine or methadone. Non-pharmacological interventions include environmental stimulation and feeding practices. This research aims to answer the question of whether newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure are more likely to be treated pharmacologically than infants without polysubstance exposure as well as if newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure have longer lengths of stay in the hospital than infants without polysubstance exposure. It is hypothesized that newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure will be treated pharmacologically at a higher rate than infants without polysubstance exposure and infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure will have longer lengths of stay. My honors thesis will use data from a completed retrospective chart review. The chart review identifying 430 newborn infants with prenatal opioid exposure will be included in the proposed study. Polysubstance exposure will be defined as an infant with opioid exposure plus at least one of the following additional substances (cocaine, stimulants, methamphetamine, benzodiazepine, THC, barbiturates, hallucinogen). Infants without polysubstance exposure will be defined as infants with only prenatal opioid exposure. Tobacco will not be included in our definition polysubstance exposure because of the high prevalence rate in the sample (96.6%).
Category
Social Sciences
Start Date
5-4-2024 8:00 AM
End Date
5-4-2024 9:00 AM
Location
D.P. Culp Center Room 272 (East Tennessee Room)
Pharmacological Treatment of Polysubstance Exposed Newborns
D.P. Culp Center Room 272 (East Tennessee Room)
Polysubstance exposure is associated with increased severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in infants. The recommended treatment for pregnant women with opioid use disorder includes medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with the use of opioid agonists such as buprenorphine or methadone. Non-pharmacological interventions include environmental stimulation and feeding practices. This research aims to answer the question of whether newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure are more likely to be treated pharmacologically than infants without polysubstance exposure as well as if newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure have longer lengths of stay in the hospital than infants without polysubstance exposure. It is hypothesized that newborn infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure will be treated pharmacologically at a higher rate than infants without polysubstance exposure and infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure will have longer lengths of stay. My honors thesis will use data from a completed retrospective chart review. The chart review identifying 430 newborn infants with prenatal opioid exposure will be included in the proposed study. Polysubstance exposure will be defined as an infant with opioid exposure plus at least one of the following additional substances (cocaine, stimulants, methamphetamine, benzodiazepine, THC, barbiturates, hallucinogen). Infants without polysubstance exposure will be defined as infants with only prenatal opioid exposure. Tobacco will not be included in our definition polysubstance exposure because of the high prevalence rate in the sample (96.6%).