Current Ten Clinical Studies on New Psychoactive Substances in Taiwan

 

Year	Journal	University, Hospital.	Finding, Conclusion	Reference
2016	Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy	Kaohsiung Medical University	Controlled NPS items in Taiwan were far less than those in Korea, but the quantity of total NPS seizures, especially with ketamine, was much larger in Taiwan than in Korea.	1
2017	Forensic Sci Int	Kaohsiung Medical University	Japan is the most proactive country in terms of the NPS regulation with 41% of the total number of controlled NPS in Northeast Asia, followed by South Korea (21%), China (28%), Taiwan (10%)	2
2020	J Formos Med Assoc	National Taiwan University Hospital	The most common NPS was ketamine (21.7%), followed by synthetic cathinones (14.8%). Polysubstance use was more common in the NPS group than in the traditional group. Most patients were men (78.3%)	3
2022	Clin Toxicol (Phila) .	Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital	The most frequently detected drug was methamphetamine/amphetamine, followed by synthetic cathinones, ketamine and its two analogs, and opioids. Younger patients and women were more likely to have NPS detected in their urine samples. NPS-positive cases frequently experienced chest pain  tachycardia and suicide attempt/non-suicidal self-harm  whereas depressed consciousness was less frequent among NPS-positive cases than among other illicit drug-positive cases.	4
2022	J Formos Med Assoc	National Taiwan University College of Medicine	546 (73.7%) men and 195 (26.3%) women were enrolled. Compared to men, women were younger (32.03 ± 10.86 vs. 36.51 ± 10.84 years, p < 0.001) and more likely to use new psychoactive substances (NPS). Men were more likely to have HIV infection, whereas women were more likely to report psychiatric comorbidities. Women were less likely to have aggressive behaviors. The likelihood of rhabdomyolysis and intensive care unit admission was higher in men (p < 0.001).	5
2022	Clin Toxicol (Phila)	National Taiwan University College of Medicine	Tachycardia, hyperthermia, and rhabdomyolysis were more common among cathinone users than among meth/amphetamine users presented to EDs.	6
2022	J Formos Med Assoc	Taipei City Hospital	High suicidality and high psychiatric comorbidities in multiple illicit drug users call for special need for suicide screening and a more integrated care incorporating psychiatric and substance treatment.	7
2022	Toxics	Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital	The mortality NPS users were older, with deep coma, faster heart rate and respiratory rate, lower blood pressures and O2 room air saturation, more seizures, abnormal breath sounds, and had urine incontinence compared to the survivor patients. The mortality patients also had acute kidney injury, higher potassium, blood sugar, liver function test, and lactate level.	8
2023	J Forensic Leg Med	Mackay Memorial Hospital	NPS users are relatively younger, are more likely to experience facial flush and palpitation and engage in more self-harm, violence, and suicide than non-NPS drug users.	9
2023	Medicine (Baltimore)	MacKay Memorial Hospital	The NPS users were significantly younger than those with negative results on toxic testing (26.4 vs 37.5, P = .005). The heart rate of NPS users was significantly faster than that of the group with negative results of toxic testing (111.1 vs 93.5 beats per minute, P = .046). The heartbeats of INPS group were also significantly faster than those with a negative result in toxicology screen (119.6 vs 93.5 beats per minute, P = .024). Those who used classical illicit drugs combined with NPS had significantly higher palpitation than those with negative results of toxic testing (27.3% vs 3.1%, P = .017).	10

1.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27663984/

2.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28088088/

3.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32037264/

4.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35315299/

5.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35365378/

6.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35438590/

7.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35484001/

8.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35878292/

9.      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36571928/

10.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37352073/

 

Edited by Yu-Jang Su July, 9, 2023