Target Audience

Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is an interdisciplinary, multi-specialty Journal, and articles span the spectrum of medical topics, providing timely, up-to-date information for primary care physicians and specialists alike. The SMJ enables physicians to provide the best possible care to patients in this age of rapidly changing modern medicine.  Therefore, the readers of the SMJ are an appropriate target for this article.

Description

Southern Appalachia is a region of the United States that is disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic and by increasing rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS rates increased approximately 400% between 1999 and 2012. Buprenorphine prescriptions written to treat opioid use disorder also increased dramatically. The present study was undertaken to ascertain any relationship between the number of buprenorphine prescriptions compared with NAS rates in southern Appalachia.

The findings suggest that the increased number of buprenorphine prescriptions in southern Appalachia are associated with concurrent increasing rates of NAS. Opioid prescription rates declined, but NAS rates and drug-induced death rates continue to rise. Further investigation is warranted, and policy reassessment is indicated.

At the conclusion of the activity, learners should be better prepared to:

• Identify the maternal and fetal risks associated with maternal illicit and/or prescribed substance use during pregnancy.
• Understand the neonatal risks associated with maternal illicit and/or prescribed substance use during pregnancy.
• Improve knowledge regarding, to improve evaluation and management and public health interventions to better identify, quantify, and manage risks regarding maternal and newborn outcomes associated with maternal illicit and/or prescribed substance use during pregnancy.
• Apply the aforementioned knowledge and competency improvements to improve public health and evaluation/management processes to reduce the risks and undesirable outcomes of maternal illicit and/or prescribed substance use during pregnancy.

Course Information

CME Release Date: December 14, 2023
Valid for credit through:  December 13, 2026
Course type: Journal CME/CE
Estimated time of completion: 1 hour

Credits Available

Southern Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Southern Medical Association designates this Journal CME/CE activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAPA: AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.

AANPCP: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Healthcare Professionals: For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.  All healthcare professionals who are not MDs or DOs will receive a certificate of participation.

Instructions for Participation and Credit

This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated; learners should claim only those credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period noted, following these steps:

Read the goals and objectives, accreditation information, and author disclosures.
Login in below to study the educational content and references.
Complete the attestation, post-test (if applicable), and evaluation.

Upon successful completion of these components, your certificate will be processed and emailed from customerservice@sma.org within approximately 1 hour. Credits will be archived for 6 years; at any point within this time period you may login to your account to print a duplicate copy of your certificate.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

Southern Medical Association (SMA) requires instructors, planners, managers, and all other individuals who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose conflicts of interest (COI) with ineligible entities within the last 24 months of the development of this activity. All identified COIs are thoroughly vetted and mitigated prior to the release of the activity. SMA is committed to providing its learners with high quality activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The following individuals, unless otherwise noted, have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Manuscript Author(s):
Summer Shore, BS
Nicole Lewis, PhD
Martin Olsen, MD

Southern Medical Association/Southern Medical Journal Editorial Staff:
Steven T. Baldwin, MD, SMJ Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer S. Price, MA, Managing Editor
Anita McCabe, Copyeditor