Project Summary
The focus of the community partnership is to compare the effectiveness of approaches that lead to the prevention of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a narcotic withdrawal disorder affecting digestive, breathing, and nervous systems of newborn babies. NAS can occur when a pregnant woman takes addictive illicit or prescription drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified prescription opioid and heroin abuse as one of five current urgent health threats. As opiate drug use has increased in the United States, the rate and number of newborns suffering from NAS has also been on the rise. The Tampa Bay region has the largest number of opiate-exposed births in Florida, representing 400 of 1,800 opiate-exposed births in 2013—a fivefold increase over the past 10 years. During Tier II, we propose to strengthen the partnership, developed in Tier I, consisting of patients, researchers, and providers of care and services to opiate-addicted mothers and their infants in the Tampa Bay region. Using evidence-based programs and interventions, we will refine into comparative effectiveness research questions the comparative effectiveness topic areas developed in Tier I. We will further develop these questions through collaborations with state and national stakeholders in preparation for proposal development in Tier III.