Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Stephen L. Mehay. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-111). Also available online.

Thesis (D.Min.)--Liberty Theological Seminary and Graduate School, 2006. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Background Traditional medication therapy and psychotherapy are commonly used for treatment drug abstinence syndrome. Because of the side effects of traditional medication therapy (MT), acupuncture therapy (AT) is under investigation for treating abstinence syndrome, particularly for heroin detoxification. This project aims to review different randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of heroin detoxification treatment by acupuncture, and retrieve relevant data so that appropriate suggestions can be made to the Narcotics Division (ND), the Department of Health (DH), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and related local public health institutes for the anti-drug services of heroin and opioid drugs. Methods A systematic review was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar to retrieve 13 relevant articles of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) in English and Chinese conducted from 2000 to 2014. These RCTs contained data of heroin-dependent patients, details of assessment of abstinence syndrome and treatments; and comparison of efficacy of AT with MT, such as side effects, severity and relapse of heroin abstinence in physical and psychological aspects. Results 13 articles were included. All treatments were conducted in clinics or hospitals. Different intervention strategies were included, comparing AT with MT, AT plus MT with MT alone, AT with no treatment as well as true AT with superficial AT. All trials have reported better therapeutic effects in the heroin abusers with AT, regardless the use of medication, age and sex. Improved treatment effects were demonstrated in reducing psychological effect of heroin abstinence, such as anxiety and depression, sleep quality, relapse and heroin craving. Also, improved treatment of physical effects of abstinence was shown by increasing body weight, improved liver and kidney functions, improved immunity and lower adverse effects than conventional MT. No adverse effect was reported in 3 trials (23%) or mentioned in 9 trials (69%), mild adverse effects was reported in 1 trial. Conclusions ND, DH, NGOs and other local public health institutes should conduct further studies in Hong Kong to obtain primary local data of the therapeutical effects of AT, and implement AT as an adjunct to the traditional MT and psychotherapy for treating heroin abstinence syndrome due to it high efficacy, safety and low side effects. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences / Department of Sociology

No description available.

No description available.

The spread of HIV and AIDS is a serious and increasing global problem with the sharing of contaminated injection equipment a primary cause of HIV infection in the developed world. Mathematical models of disease transmission allow us to assess the impact of different epidemiological and behavioural assumptions on the long term behaviour of disease. Initially a simple deterministic model is examined which allows intravenous drug users to progress through three different infectious stages after initial infection with HIV and prior to the development of AIDS. This model is then developed to also allow contaminated injection equipment to exist in three different states of infectivity. The resulting model contains a number of parameters, which while potentially important, are extremely difficult to estimate. In response to this, several special cases are examined which represent intuitive upper and lower bounds for the spread of disease. In each case an equilibrium and stability analysis is presented. Later these special cases, together with a generalisation of them, are compared with a well established single stage infectivity model to ascertain whether the inclusion of variable infectivity increases the predicted spread of disease. We find that the impact of variable infectivity depends on a number of factors and can lead to either an increase or decrease in the prevalence of disease. Testing drug users for the presence of HIV has been proposed as a method of reducing the incidence of HIV. Using the previously discussed upper and lower bound variable infectivity models, we examine the effect of testing addicts for HIV using a number of different infectivity assumptions. We find that under certain conditions HIV testing can be an effective control strategy against the future spread of HIV. This is followed by a short discussion of sensitivity analysis of these models. While predominantly discussing deterministic models we conclude with a brief discussion of stochastic models and demonstrate the behaviour of these models using simulation.

No description available.

Thesis (MSocSc)--University of South Australia, 1997