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Ferguson M, Choisil P, Lamb J, Burmeister C, Newman C, Lock K, Tobias S, Liu L, Buxton JA. Associations with experience of non-fatal opioid overdose in British Columbia, Canada: a repeated cross sectional survey study. Harm Reduct J 2023; 20:178. [PMID: 38093272 PMCID: PMC10717189 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-023-00912-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Lives lost in North America due to the unregulated drug poisoning emergency are preventable and those who survive an opioid overdose may suffer long-term disability. Rates of opioid overdose more than doubled following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada. MATERIALS AND METHODS Our analytical sample was comprised of 1447 participants from the 2018, 2019, and 2021 Harm Reduction Client Survey who responded yes or no to having experienced an opioid overdose in the past 6 months. Participants were recruited from harm reduction sites from across British Columbia. We used logistic regression to explore associations of experiencing an opioid overdose. RESULTS Overall, 21.8% of participants reported experiencing an opioid overdose in the last six months (18.2% in 2019 and 26.6% in 2021). The following factors were positively associated with increased adjusted odds of experiencing a non-fatal opioid overdose: cis men relative to cis women (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.10-2.02), unstably housed compared to people with stable housing (AOR 1.87, 95% CI 1.40-2.50), and participants from 2021 compared to those from 2019 (AOR 3.06, 95% CI 1.57-5.97). The effects of both previous experience of a stimulant overdose and having witnessed an opioid overdose depended on the year of study, with both effects decreasing over subsequent years. CONCLUSIONS Overdoses have increased over time; in 2021 more than one in four participants experienced an overdose. There is an urgent need for policy and program development to meaningfully address the unregulated drug poisoning emergency through acceptable life-saving interventions and services to prevent overdoses and support overdose survivors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Ferguson
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Paul Choisil
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Jessica Lamb
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Cheri Newman
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Kurt Lock
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Samuel Tobias
- British Centre on Substance Use, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Lisa Liu
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Jane A Buxton
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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McInerney K, Marchand K, Buckley J, Gao C, Kestler A, Mathias S, Argyle A, Barbic S. Informing youth-centred opioid agonist treatment: Findings from a retrospective chart review of youths' characteristics and patterns of opioid agonist treatment engagement in a novel integrated youth services program. Early Interv Psychiatry 2023; 17:1028-1037. [PMID: 37259685 DOI: 10.1111/eip.13446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
AIM Youth ages 12-24 account for approximately 20% of overdoses and yet are poorly reached by opioid agonist treatment (OAT), the most widely recommended treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). This study contributes to understanding this critical gap by describing youths' patterns of OAT engagement at a novel integrated youth-specific OAT program. METHODS A retrospective chart review was carried out on electronic medical records of n = 23 youth with OUD accessing a community-based integrated youth services (IYS) centre. Data abstraction focused on four domains: sociodemographic, social determinants of health, patterns of OAT engagement, and other services utilized. RESULTS Youths' mean age was 22.6 years (SD = 2.1), with a mean age of first opioid use of 17.4 (SD = 2.7). Youth reported extensive histories of adverse childhood experiences, concurrent mental and physical health complications, and poly-substance use. All youth were offered OAT and 83% initiated treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone, methadone, or slow-release oral morphine. Among those initiating OAT, 42.1% were considered stable on OAT. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to describe youths' OAT engagement in an integrated youth-specific OAT program. Our findings demonstrated that a high proportion of youth with OUD initiated OAT in this novel program with varying degrees of OAT stability. These findings can be used to inform the development and implementation of youth-specific and integrated OAT. To account for the novelty of this area of study and small sample sizes, future collaborative efforts across IYS initiatives should be considered, including mixed method approaches to understand outcomes and experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly McInerney
- Foundry North Shore, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Kirsten Marchand
- Foundry Central Office, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Chloe Gao
- Foundry Central Office, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Diamond Health Care Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Andrew Kestler
- Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Diamond Health Care Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Centre on Substance Use, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Steve Mathias
- Foundry Central Office, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Providence Research, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, The Unviersity of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Aubree Argyle
- School of Nursing and Human Physiology, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, USA
| | - Skye Barbic
- Foundry Central Office, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Pilarinos A, Bingham B, Kwa Y, Joe R, Grant C, Fast D, Buxton JA, DeBeck K. Interest in using buprenorphine-naloxone among a prospective cohort of street-involved young people in Vancouver, Canada. JOURNAL OF SUBSTANCE USE AND ADDICTION TREATMENT 2023; 148:209005. [PMID: 36921770 PMCID: PMC10773610 DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2023.209005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 11/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Limited research examines buprenorphine-naloxone interest among adolescents and young adults (AYA). This longitudinal study examined factors associated with initial buprenorphine-naloxone interest and the time to a positive change in buprenorphine-naloxone interest or enrollment, in addition to identifying reasons for buprenorphine-naloxone disinterest. METHODS The study derived data from a cohort of street-involved AYA in Vancouver, Canada between December 2014 and June 2018. The analysis was restricted to AYA who reported weekly or daily illicit opioid use in the last six months but had not initiated buprenorphine-naloxone. The study examined factors associated with initial buprenorphine-naloxone interest using multivariable logistic regression, while multivariable Cox regression identified factors associated with the time to a positive change in buprenorphine-naloxone interest or actual enrollment over follow-up among AYA initially disinterested in buprenorphine-naloxone. RESULTS Of 281 participants who reported weekly illicit opioid use but were not on buprenorphine-naloxone, 52 (18.5 %) AYA reported initial buprenorphine-naloxone interest, while 68 (24.2 %) AYA who were initially disinterested in buprenorphine-naloxone reported interest or enrollment over follow-up. In multivariable logistic regression, initial interest was positively associated with older age (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.09, 95 % Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.03-1.15), but negatively associated with self-reported Indigenous identity (AOR = 0.22, 95 % CI: 0.07-0.68). In multivariable Cox regression, recent detoxification program access (Adjusted Hazard Ratio [AHR] = 0.85, 95 % CI: 0.73-0.98) was positively associated with the time to a positive change in buprenorphine-naloxone interest or enrollment. Common reasons for buprenorphine-naloxone disinterest included not wanting opioid agonist treatments (OAT) (initial n = 67, follow-up n = 105); not wanting to experience precipitated withdrawal (initial n = 42, follow-up n = 54), being satisfied with or preferring other OAT (initial n = 33, follow-up n = 52), not knowing what buprenorphine-naloxone is (initial n = 27, follow-up n = 9), previous negative treatment experiences (initial n = 19, follow-up n = 20), and wanting to continue opioid use (initial n = 13, follow-up n = 9), among others. CONCLUSIONS We documented persistent disinterest in buprenorphine-naloxone among AYA, though participants' reasons for disinterest provide insight into the potential benefits of expanding micro-dosing induction; ensuring treatment is culturally safe; and communicating changes in buprenorphine-naloxone programming to AYA. Nevertheless, a need remains to improve the continuum of harm reduction and treatment supports for AYA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Pilarinos
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9, Canada; Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, University of British Columbia, 270-2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Brittany Bingham
- Vancouver Coastal Health, 520 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1A1, Canada; Division of Social Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2914 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z3, Canada
| | - Yandi Kwa
- Vancouver Coastal Health, 520 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1A1, Canada
| | - Ronald Joe
- Vancouver Coastal Health, 520 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1A1, Canada
| | - Cameron Grant
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | - Danya Fast
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9, Canada; Division of Social Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2914 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z3, Canada
| | - Jane A Buxton
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Kora DeBeck
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9, Canada; School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Suite 3271, Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3, Canada.
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Marchand K, Turuba R, Katan C, Fogarty O, Fairbank J, Tallon C, Mathias S, Barbic S. "The system always undermined what I was trying to do as an individual": identifying opportunities to improve the delivery of opioid use services for youth from the perspective of service providers in four communities across British Columbia, Canada. Addict Sci Clin Pract 2023; 18:1. [PMID: 36593469 PMCID: PMC9806820 DOI: 10.1186/s13722-022-00359-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substance use among youth is a longstanding global health concern that has dramatically risen in the era of highly toxic and unregulated drugs, including opioids. It is crucial to ensure that youth using unregulated opioids have access to evidence-based interventions, and yet, youth encounter critical gaps in the quality of such interventions. This study aims to address these gaps by identifying opportunities to improve the quality of opioid use services from the perspective of service providers, a perspective that has received scant attention. METHODS This community-based participatory study was conducted in four communities in British Columbia (Canada), a province that declared a public health overdose emergency in 2016. Human-centered co-design workshops were held to understand service providers' (n = 41) experiences, needs, and ideas for improving the quality of youth opioid use services/treatments in their community. Multi-site qualitative analysis was used to develop overarching experiences and needs themes that were further contextualized in each local community. A blended deductive and inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the ideas data. RESULTS Three overarching themes were identified, reflecting service providers' goals to respond to youth in a timely and developmentally appropriate manner. However, this was significantly limited by organizational and systems-level barriers, revealing service providers' priorities for intra- and inter-organizational support and collaboration and systems-level innovation. Across communities, service providers identified 209 individual ideas to address these prioritized needs and improve the quality of youth opioid use services/treatments. CONCLUSION These themes demonstrate a multi-level tension between macro-level systems and the meso-level organization of youth opioid use services, which undermine the quality of individual-level care service providers can deliver. These findings underscore the need for a coordinated multi-level response, such as developing youth-specific standards (macro-level), increasing inter-organizational activities and collaboration (meso-level), and creating programs that are specific to youths' needs (micro-level).
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Marchand
- Foundry, 915-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2A9, Canada. .,Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, 588-1081 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
| | - Roxanne Turuba
- Foundry, 915-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9 Canada ,grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada
| | - Christina Katan
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 500-75 Albert St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7 Canada
| | - Oonagh Fogarty
- Foundry, 915-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9 Canada ,grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada
| | - Jill Fairbank
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 500-75 Albert St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7 Canada
| | | | - Steve Mathias
- Foundry, 915-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9 Canada ,grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada ,grid.498725.5Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, 588-1081 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada ,grid.416553.00000 0000 8589 2327St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Health Care, 1081 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada ,Providence Research, 1190 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada
| | - Skye Barbic
- Foundry, 915-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9 Canada ,grid.498725.5Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, 588-1081 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada ,grid.416553.00000 0000 8589 2327St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Health Care, 1081 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada ,Providence Research, 1190 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Canada
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Hurtado I, Robles C, Peiró S, García-Sempere A, Llopis-Cardona F, Sánchez-Sáez F, Rodríguez-Bernal C, Sanfélix-Gimeno G. Real-world patterns of opioid therapy initiation in Spain, 2012-2018: A population-based, retrospective cohort study with 957,080 patients and 1,509,488 initiations. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:1025340. [PMID: 36467078 PMCID: PMC9709437 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1025340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Europe has seen a steady increase in the use of prescription opioids, especially in non-cancer indications. Epidemiological data on the patterns of use of opioids is required to optimize prescription. We aim to describe the patterns of opioid therapy initiation for non-cancer pain and characteristics of patients treated in a region with five million inhabitants in the period 2012 to 2018. Methods: Population-based retrospective cohort study of all adult patients initiating opioid therapy for non-cancer pain in the region of Valencia. We described patient characteristics at baseline and the characteristics of baseline and subsequent treatment initiation. We used multinominal regression models to identify individual factors associated with initiation. Results: A total of 957,080 patients initiated 1,509,488 opioid treatments (957,080 baseline initiations, 552,408 subsequent initiations). For baseline initiations, 738,749 were with tramadol (77.19%), 157,098 with codeine (16.41%) 58,436 (6.11%) with long-acting opioids, 1,518 (0.16%) with short-acting opioids and 1,279 (0.13%) with ultrafast drugs. When compared to tramadol, patients initiating with short-acting, long-acting and ultrafast opioids were more likely to be older and had more comorbidities, whereas initiators with codeine were more prone to be healthier and younger. Treatments lasting less than 7 days accounted for 41.82% of initiations, and 11.89% lasted more than 30 days. 19.55% of initiators with ultrafast fentanyl received more than 120 daily Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME), and 16.12% of patients initiating with long-acting opioids were prescribed more than 90 daily MME (p < 0.001). Musculoskeletal indications accounted for 65.05% of opioid use. Overlap with benzodiazepines was observed in 24.73% of initiations, overlap with gabapentinoids was present in 11.04% of initiations with long-acting opioids and 28.39% of initiators with short-acting opioids used antipsychotics concomitantly. In subsequent initiations, 55.48% of treatments included three or more prescriptions (vs. 17.60% in baseline initiations) and risk of overlap was also increased. Conclusion: Opioids are initiated for a vast array of non-oncological indications, and, despite clinical guidelines, short-acting opioids are used marginally, and a significant number of patients is exposed to potentially high-risk patterns of initiation, such as treatments lasting more than 14 days, treatments surpassing 50 daily MMEs, initiating with long-acting opioids, or hazardous overlapping with other therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Hurtado
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Celia Robles
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Salvador Peiró
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Aníbal García-Sempere
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Fran Llopis-Cardona
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Francisco Sánchez-Sáez
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Clara Rodríguez-Bernal
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
| | - Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno
- Health Services Research Unit, Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, Valencia, Fisabio
- Network for Research on Chronicity Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Valencia, Fisabio
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