School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 14;19(18):11567. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811567.
Nitrous oxide (NO) is a dissociative anaesthetic that is sometimes used recreationally. The prevalence of NO use is difficult to quantify but appears to be increasing. Research on NO harms and application of harm reduction strategies are limited. The aim of this mixed method systematic review was to collate and synthesise the disparate body of research on recreational nitrous oxide use to inform harm reduction approaches tailored for young people.
To identify publications reporting the recreational use of NO, a search of public health, psychology and social science databases was conducted. Databases included . Grey literature and Google advanced search were also used. Due to limited published literature on the recreational use of NO, no limit was placed on publication date or study type. A thematic synthesis extracted descriptive and analytical themes from the selected studies. Quality appraisal was conducted using the CASP Tool for Qualitative studies and the Joanna Briggs Institute case report assessment tool.
The search retrieved 407 reports. Thirty-four were included in the final analysis, including sixteen case reports. The included studies were primarily concerned with raising awareness of the apparently increasing use and subsequently increasing harms of recreational NO use. There was limited reference to policy or legislative responses in any published studies, no suggestions for harm reduction strategies or application of service level responses. In general, individuals lack awareness of NO-related harms.
The review found three key areas that deserve further consideration including: (1) policy, (2) service delivery, and (3) harm associated with NO use. We recommend a top-down (policy) and bottom-up (services delivery/services users) approach to harm reduction for NO use which also includes further consultation and research with both groups. Future research could explore young people's experience of NO use including benefits and problems to inform contextually relevant harm reduction strategies.
一氧化二氮（NO）是一种分离性麻醉剂，有时被用于娱乐目的。NO 的使用频率难以量化，但似乎呈上升趋势。关于 NO 的危害研究和减少危害策略的应用有限。本混合方法系统综述的目的是整理和综合关于娱乐性一氧化二氮使用的不同研究，为针对年轻人的减少危害方法提供信息。
为了确定报告娱乐性使用一氧化二氮的出版物，对公共卫生、心理学和社会科学数据库进行了搜索。数据库包括。还使用了灰色文献和谷歌高级搜索。由于关于娱乐性一氧化二氮使用的已发表文献有限，因此没有对出版日期或研究类型进行限制。主题综合从选定的研究中提取描述性和分析性主题。使用 CASP 定性研究工具和 Joanna Briggs 研究所病例报告评估工具对质量进行评估。
搜索共检索到 407 份报告。34 份报告被纳入最终分析，其中包括 16 份病例报告。纳入的研究主要关注提高对娱乐性一氧化二氮使用的明显增加和随后增加的危害的认识。在任何已发表的研究中，对政策或立法反应的参考都很有限，没有提出减少危害的策略或应用服务水平反应的建议。一般来说，个人对与一氧化二氮相关的危害缺乏认识。
综述发现有三个关键领域值得进一步考虑，包括：（1）政策，（2）服务提供，和（3）与一氧化二氮使用相关的危害。我们建议采取自上而下（政策）和自下而上（服务提供/服务使用者）的减少一氧化二氮使用危害的方法，同时还包括与这两个群体的进一步协商和研究。未来的研究可以探索年轻人使用一氧化二氮的经验，包括好处和问题，以为相关背景下的减少危害策略提供信息。
