Bridging the gap: Increasing awareness of sex differences in opioid addiction using social media platforms

HONORABLE MENTION Background: Current efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States do not take into account the sex differences in opioid response, prescription, use, and addiction. There is a need for medical professionals and the general public to understand these differences to properly prevent, address, and treat opioid addiction. Healthcare professionals and patients often use the Internet and social networking websites to access and share medical information. These platforms provide an innovative way to educate these groups on various topics in medicine. The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) created the Opioid Addiction in Women Task Force to positively impact care for women with opioid addiction. Objectives: Increase health literacy surrounding sex differences in opioid addiction in the general public and healthcare providers via social media platforms Methods/Research: The AMWA Opioid Task Force consists of physicians and medical students across the country who meet virtually each month. With guidance from supervising physicians, educational infographics, pamphlets, and videos are created to facilitate the dissemination of complex scientiffc data in a simple and engaging manner. Information is subsequently shared via social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, where they can be easily accessed by healthcare providers, medical students, and the public. Conclusions/Impact: This is one of the few organizations with national exposure that highlights sex and gender differences in the opioid crisis and aims to increase health literacy for both the general public and health care providers. We have successfully distributed information regarding sex differences in opioid addiction during Women’s Health Week 2020 on the national AMWA website, Instagram, and Twitter. Our future plans include producing and sharing videos on YouTube about opioids, addiction, and pain management, especially in women. We hope to encourage current and future physicians to initiate discussions surrounding sex/gender-speciffc health, speciffcally in opioid addiction.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/1003/thumbnail.jp

Are State Policymakers Aware of Sex and Gender Impacts on Opioid Use Disorder?

HONORABLE MENTION Background: Sex and gender-based differences have been identified as risks for opioid use disorder (OUD) and treatment outcomes. In response to the “opioid crisis,” states have developed action plans to inform strategies of state agencies, impact legislative efforts, and help prioritize funding allocations for prevention initiatives, substance use disorder treatment, and law enforcement programs. Objectives: This study aimed to provide the first analysis of state opioid action plans and their inclusion of gender-specific issues. The results of this study would be used to develop educational materials and programs for state policymakers to inform policy decisions and improve the care of women with OUD. Methods: Forty-nine state action plans were identified from state websites and were analyzed for their inclusion of 15 variables covering provider education in gender differences, pregnancy-related topics, and discussion of gender-based differences in opioid addiction and treatment. Results: Forty-one percent of states mentioned prenatal or postpartum care for women with OUD. Only 14% of states speciffcally mentioned pregnancy-related opioid use stigma, 12% mentioned contraceptive care/access, 8% mentioned family planning provider education, and 24% of states mentioned trauma-informed care. Three states mentioned gender differences in social risk factors, another three states mentioned treatment barriers specific to women, and only two states mentioned treatment stigma specific to women. Conclusions: Few action plans contained gender-specific information; those that did focused almost exclusively on pregnancy and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, showing a lack of understanding about the issues faced by women with OUD outside of reproductive health. Given the rising rate of opioid-related deaths among women and the impact of OUD on women of every age, state opioid policies need to be inclusive of the unique needs of women. This will require education of policymakers about gender-based differences in addiction physiology, medical and social risk factors, and barriers to treatment.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/1034/thumbnail.jp