Thomas J Stopka
Biographic Data
| ID | 1740004 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas J Stopka |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas J |
| FAMILY NAME | Stopka |
| SIGNATURE | STOPKA T J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tufts University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2314-8924 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 46 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Correlates of Rural Naloxone Possession Among People Who Use Drugs
The mediating effects of particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ) and sociodemographic indicators and health conditions on the relationship between historic redlining and modern-day life expectancy
Background: Few studies have utilized mediation analysis to examine both direct and indirect relationships between historic redlining and modern-day outcomes of interest. Objectives: Our study (1) utilized structural equation modelling to explore the direct and indirect relationships between historic redlining and modern-day life expectancy across 2010-defined United States census tracts and (2) examined the role of the air quality indicator of p…
Associations of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody positivity with opioid, stimulant, and polysubstance injection among people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural U.S. communities
HCV antibody positivity, indicating prior exposure, was highest among those who had recently injected opioids, alone or with stimulants. Additional nucleic acid testing is necessary to confirm active infection. More research is needed to determine the underlying causes of HCV antibody positivity by injection use
Patient perspectives of jail based Moud treatment
Transit bus access to healthy, affordable food
Good nutrition reduces the risk of chronic disease, but many vulnerable populations do not have equitable access to healthy food. People who are lower-income, non-White, older, or disabled, have increased likelihood of not owning a vehicle and of being dependent on public buses to source healthy, affordable food. Our study took place in three municipalities targeted by the Rhode Island Department of Health for equity-focused interventions. Our me…
Environmental Exposures and Covid-19 Experiences in the United States, 2020–2022
Certain environmental exposures are associated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality. To determine whether environmental context is associated with other COVID-19 experiences, we used data from the nationally representative Tufts Equity in Health, Wealth, and Civic Engagement Study data ( n = 1785; three survey waves 2020-2022 for adults in the United States). Environmental context was assessed using self-reported climate stress and county-level …
Prevalence and correlates of multiple injections per injection episode among people who inject drugs in rural U.S. communities
Barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder among rural individuals
Access barriers vary by MOUD type for rural individuals with OUD. Compared to sublingual buprenorphine, methadone access was hindered more by transportation difficulties, while injectable long-acting buprenorphine was hindered more by affordability and finding a doctor or program. These barriers highlight the need to de-regulate and expand locations for methadone access and prescribing, and to improve affordability and prescriber uptake of newer …
Predicting fatal opioid-involved overdoses
Public Health Data to Action
Risk factors for persistent fatal opioid-involved overdose clusters in Massachusetts 2011–2021
Conducting spatially robust analyses may help inform policies to identify community-level risks for opioid-involved overdose deaths sooner than depending on raw incidence rates alone. The results can help inform policy makers and planners about locations of persistent risk
Rapid Assessment Amid an Injection Drug Use-Driven HIV Outbreak in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl within the drug supply has substantially increased opioid-related overdose deaths and driven infectious disease outbreaks among people who use drugs (PWUD). Local jurisdictions often lack the data and tools necessary to detect and translate such moments into actionable and effective responses. Informed by a risk environment framework, this case study adopted a mixed-methods design spanning two rapid assessment stud…
Medicaid Policy and Hepatitis C Treatment Among Rural People Who Use Drugs
BACKGROUND: Restrictive Medicaid policies regarding hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment may exacerbate rural health care disparities for people who use drugs (PWUD). We assessed associations between Medicaid restrictions and HCV treatment among rural PWUD. METHODS: We compiled state-specific Medicaid treatment policies across 8 US rural sites in 10 states and merged these with participant survey data. We hypothesized that local restrictions regardi…
Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment among people who use drugs in the rural United States
Perspectives of opioid prescribers in overdose hotspots and coldspots, Massachusetts, 2019
BACKGROUND: Prescription opioids (POs) have had a devastating effect on people and public health systems in the U.S. Due to the urgency and complexity of the opioid crisis, there is a need to expand qualitative research on the medical community's perspectives on opioid prescribing practices and the role that prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have played in mitigating this crisis. METHODS: = 23) across specialties and a range of overdo…
Evaluating Technologies to Identify Fentanyl and Adulterants in Street Drug Paraphernalia
Background: Opioid overdose deaths continue to present major public health challenges in the U.S. Harm reduction agencies have begun using drug checking technologies to identify adulterants in the local drug supply and reduce overdose risk among people who use drugs (PWUD). Through qualitative and ethnographic methods, we assess the use of portable mass spectrometers at a harm reduction agency in a Northeastern U.S. city. Methods: We conducted pa…
Opioid prescriber screening practices to detect risk for developing opioid use disorder
Little is known about how clinical providers assess risk for opioid use disorder (OUD), especially when considering prescriptions for opioid-naïve patients with acute pain. While formal screening tools exist, they are not widely used, and may not be sensitive enough to identify low-risk individuals who are susceptible to developing an OUD. Therefore, we sought to understand opioid prescribers' perspectives on their screening practices. We conduct…
“I've been to more of my friends’ funerals than I've been to my friends’ weddings”
PURPOSE: Overdose is a leading cause of death among people who use drugs (PWUDs), but policies to reduce fatal overdose have had mixed results. Summaries of naloxone access and Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs) in prior studies provide limited information about local context. Witnessing overdoses may also be an important consideration in providing services to PWUDs, as it contributes to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which complicate su…
Diversion of medications to treat opioid use disorder
Opioid-Involved Overdose Vulnerability in Wyoming
BACKGROUND: Between 2009 and 2019 opioid-involved fatal overdose rates increased by 45% and the average opioid dispensing rate in Wyoming was higher than the national average. The opioid crisis is shaped by a complex set of socioeconomic, geopolitical, and health-related variables. We conducted a vulnerability assessment to identify Wyoming counties at higher risk of opioid-related harm, factors associated with this risk, and areas in need of ove…
Spatial and Nonspatial Factors Associated with Access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder among Pregnant Women in Massachusetts
INTRODUCTION: In Massachusetts, one-third of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) do not receive medications for OUD (MOUD), such as buprenorphine and methadone. Research has demonstrated that broadly, access to medications differs by location and by socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of communities, but a comprehensive understanding at the micro-level is lacking. This study aims to identify and characterize access to MOUD trea…
Medical mistrust, discrimination, and Covid-19 vaccine behaviors among a national sample U.S. adults
Medical mistrust is significantly associated with vaccination status and intentions. Increasing uptake of COVID-19 vaccines will likely require substantive efforts on the part of public health and healthcare officials to build trust with those who are not yet fully vaccinated. We recommend that these efforts focus on building the 'trustworthiness' of these entities, an approach that will require a paradigm shift away from a focus on correcting in…
Residence with a Person Who Used Substances and Childhood Anxiety and Depression
Our results suggest that residing with someone who used substances is associated with children's anxiety and depression. Our findings can help inform screening and treatment efforts for anxiety and depression among children, as well as for the person using substances
Assessing equity in health, wealth, and civic engagement
Through development and assessment of our comprehensive equity framework, we found significant associations among key equity domains. Our conceptual framework and results can serve as a guide for future equity research, encouraging a more thorough assessment of equity
Associations among political voting preference, high-risk health status, and preventative behaviors for Covid-19
Engagement in preventative behavior is associated with political voting preference and not individual risk of severe COVID-19 or being a caretaker of a high-risk individual. Community based strategies and public health messaging should be tailored to individuals based on political preferences especially for those with obesity and other high-risk conditions. Efforts must be accompanied by broader public policy
Three Years after Legalization of Nonprescription Pharmacy Syringe Sales in California
In January 2005, passage of California Senate Bill 1159 enabled California's county or city governments to establish disease prevention demonstration projects (DPDPs) through which pharmacies could subsequently register to legally sell up to 10 syringes to adults without a prescription. California's 61 local health jurisdictions (LHJs) were surveyed annually in 2005-2007 to monitor the progress of DPDP implementation and assess program coverage, …
Pharmacy Participation in Non-Prescription Syringe Sales in Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties, 2007
Increasing sterile syringe access for injection drug users (IDUs) is one way to prevent HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in this population. In 2005, California Senate Bill 1159 allowed counties to adopt the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project (DPDP). Where enacted, the DPDP allows pharmacies that register with the county to sell up to ten syringes to adults without a prescription. In the current study, we describe pharmacy parti…
Increasing Syringe Access and HIV Prevention in California
Spatial epidemiology
Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment among people who use drugs in the rural United States
Access to Sterile Syringes through San Francisco Pharmacies and the Association with HIV Risk Behavior among Injection Drug Users
Increased options for syringe acquisition and disposal have been associated with reductions in high-risk behaviors. This study determined the extent of pharmacy uptake in accessing syringes among injection drug users (IDUs) and estimated associations between pharmacy uptake and safer injection/disposal practices. Two years after the implementation of California's Disease Prevention Demonstration Project, which removed restrictions to non-prescrip…
Writing About Risk
Increasing Syringe Access and HIV Prevention in California
Access to Sterile Syringes through San Francisco Pharmacies and the Association with HIV Risk Behavior among Injection Drug Users
Increased options for syringe acquisition and disposal have been associated with reductions in high-risk behaviors. This study determined the extent of pharmacy uptake in accessing syringes among injection drug users (IDUs) and estimated associations between pharmacy uptake and safer injection/disposal practices. Two years after the implementation of California's Disease Prevention Demonstration Project, which removed restrictions to non-prescrip…
Three Years after Legalization of Nonprescription Pharmacy Syringe Sales in California
In January 2005, passage of California Senate Bill 1159 enabled California's county or city governments to establish disease prevention demonstration projects (DPDPs) through which pharmacies could subsequently register to legally sell up to 10 syringes to adults without a prescription. California's 61 local health jurisdictions (LHJs) were surveyed annually in 2005-2007 to monitor the progress of DPDP implementation and assess program coverage, …
Pharmacy Participation in Non-Prescription Syringe Sales in Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties, 2007
Increasing sterile syringe access for injection drug users (IDUs) is one way to prevent HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in this population. In 2005, California Senate Bill 1159 allowed counties to adopt the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project (DPDP). Where enacted, the DPDP allows pharmacies that register with the county to sell up to ten syringes to adults without a prescription. In the current study, we describe pharmacy parti…
Factors Associated with Presence of Pharmacies and Pharmacies that Sell Syringes Over-the-Counter in Los Angeles County
Is crime associated with over-the-counter pharmacy syringe sales? Findings from Los Angeles, California
Use of Spatial Epidemiology and Hot Spot Analysis to Target Women Eligible for Prenatal Women, Infants, and Children Services
Objectives. We used a geographic information system and cluster analyses to determine locations in need of enhanced Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program services. Methods. We linked documented births in the 2010 California Birth Statistical Master File with the 2010 data from the WIC Integrated Statewide Information System. Analyses focused on the density of pregnant women who were eligible for but…
Medication for Opioid Use Disorder After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose and Association With Mortality
Background: Opioid overdose survivors have an increased risk for death. Whether use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) after overdose is associated with mortality is not known. Objective: To identify MOUD use after opioid overdose and its association with all-cause and opioid-related mortality. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: 7 individually linked data sets from Massachusetts government agencies. Participants: 17 568 Massa…
Competing priorities that rival health in adults on probation in Rhode Island
Adults on probation are often faced with limited economic potential and support systems that consistently place them in high-risk environments with increased risk for recidivism. These findings emphasize the need for policies that address the barriers to securing gainful employment and safe housing. Interventions that reflect probationer priorities are necessary to begin to mitigate the health disparities in this population
Food Insecurity, Morbidities, and Substance Use in Adults on Probation in Rhode Island
Opioid overdose deaths and potentially inappropriate opioid prescribing practices (PIP)
Overdose and PIP hotspots were identified, as well as regions where the two overlapped, and where they diverged. Results indicate that PIP clustering alone does not explain overdose clustering patterns. Our findings can inform public health policy decisions at the local level, which include a focus on PIP and misuse of heroin and fentanyl that aim to curb opioid overdoses
The HIV Care Continuum in Small Cities of Southern New England
Linking Matters
Background In March 2019, our health system launched a project called Linking MATTERS (Medication for Addiction Treatment linkage Through Emergency depaRtmentS) to initiate evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) with buprenorphine-naloxone (B/N) in our emergency departments and connect patients to our primary care sites to continue their addiction care. Methods: Six months after project implementation, we conducted in-depth interv…
Disparities in Sars-CoV-2 Vaccination-to-Infection Risk During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Massachusetts
This cohort study examines the alignment of vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 risk in Massachusetts by creating and applying a vaccination-to-infection risk ratio
A Novel Imputation Approach for Sharing Protected Public Health Data
Objectives. To develop an imputation method to produce estimates for suppressed values within a shared government administrative data set to facilitate accurate data sharing and statistical and spatial analyses. Methods. We developed an imputation approach that incorporated known features of suppressed Massachusetts surveillance data from 2011 to 2017 to predict missing values more precisely. Our methods for 35 de-identified opioid prescription d…
Locating the Risk
HIV incidence among African American (AA) young men who have sex with men (YMSM) has remained stable even though they made up the largest number of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) in 2017. HIV spreads at increased rates in dense sexual networks. Identifying the location of risk behaviors "activity spaces" could inform geographically circumscribed HIV prevention interventions. Utilizing the modified social ecological model …
Opioid-Involved Overdose Vulnerability in Wyoming
BACKGROUND: Between 2009 and 2019 opioid-involved fatal overdose rates increased by 45% and the average opioid dispensing rate in Wyoming was higher than the national average. The opioid crisis is shaped by a complex set of socioeconomic, geopolitical, and health-related variables. We conducted a vulnerability assessment to identify Wyoming counties at higher risk of opioid-related harm, factors associated with this risk, and areas in need of ove…
Spatial and Nonspatial Factors Associated with Access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder among Pregnant Women in Massachusetts
INTRODUCTION: In Massachusetts, one-third of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) do not receive medications for OUD (MOUD), such as buprenorphine and methadone. Research has demonstrated that broadly, access to medications differs by location and by socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of communities, but a comprehensive understanding at the micro-level is lacking. This study aims to identify and characterize access to MOUD trea…
Medical mistrust, discrimination, and Covid-19 vaccine behaviors among a national sample U.S. adults
Medical mistrust is significantly associated with vaccination status and intentions. Increasing uptake of COVID-19 vaccines will likely require substantive efforts on the part of public health and healthcare officials to build trust with those who are not yet fully vaccinated. We recommend that these efforts focus on building the 'trustworthiness' of these entities, an approach that will require a paradigm shift away from a focus on correcting in…
Residence with a Person Who Used Substances and Childhood Anxiety and Depression
Our results suggest that residing with someone who used substances is associated with children's anxiety and depression. Our findings can help inform screening and treatment efforts for anxiety and depression among children, as well as for the person using substances
Assessing equity in health, wealth, and civic engagement
Through development and assessment of our comprehensive equity framework, we found significant associations among key equity domains. Our conceptual framework and results can serve as a guide for future equity research, encouraging a more thorough assessment of equity
Associations among political voting preference, high-risk health status, and preventative behaviors for Covid-19
Engagement in preventative behavior is associated with political voting preference and not individual risk of severe COVID-19 or being a caretaker of a high-risk individual. Community based strategies and public health messaging should be tailored to individuals based on political preferences especially for those with obesity and other high-risk conditions. Efforts must be accompanied by broader public policy
Jail-based reentry programming to support continued treatment with medications for opioid use disorder
Medication for opioid use disorder treatment continuity post-release from jail
Medicine (44 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (26 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (24 works) · Environmental health (22 works) · Psychiatry (22 works) · Psychology (19 works) · Nursing (18 works) · Opioid (16 works) · Demography (14 works) · Family medicine (14 works)