Updates in alcohol use disorder (AUD) pharmacotherapy and barriers to optimal care

Details

In this online CME self-learning program: Alcohol use disorder (AUD), referred to colloquially as alcoholism, is an integration of past terms that have include in past as alcohol dependence or abuse, and may be marked by any one of a number of different symptoms or behaviors that include physical cravings, compulsion, guilt, and frequent consumption over an extended period of time. A quarter of adults report at least one day of heavy drinking over the past year. Alcohol accounts for over 687,000 emergency department visits in the U.S. by people under age 20 per year; worldwide, 76.3 million people are estimated to have AUDs, and they account for an annual mortality rate of 1.8 million. AUD is largely under-recognized and undertreated, constituting one gap in care and justifying continuing HCP education. HCPs are considered well-positioned to be able to recognize AUD, and one of the first missed opportunities to do so is failing to employ a validated screening tool, which might identify a condition well before it reaches the full scale of its adverse psychosocial potential.

Target Audience:

HCPs who are: psychiatrists, primary care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and those who otherwise commonly treat patients suffering from or have a clinical interest in AUD.

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

• Describe the common clinical presentation(s) of AUD.
• Recall recommended AUD diagnostic criteria, and apply them to a patient case.
• List current treatment options for AUD, including behavioral and pharmacologic therapies and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine.
• Describe challenges to the successful management of AUD relating to treatment adherence.