Articles: opioid.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Management of patients presenting with low back pain to a private hospital emergency department in Melbourne, Australia.
Recent studies suggest many patients with non-specific low back pain presenting to public hospital EDs receive low-value care. The primary aim was to describe management of patients presenting with low back pain to the ED of a private hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and received a final ED diagnosis of non-specific low back pain. We also determined predictors of hospital admission. ⋯ We observed high rates of imaging, pathology tests and hospital admissions compared with previous public hospital studies, while medication use was similar. Implementation of strategies to optimise evidence-based ED care is needed to reduce low-value care and improve patient outcomes.
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The effects of the opioid crisis have varied across diverse and socioeconomically defined urban communities, due in part to widening health disparities. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a spike in drug overdose deaths in the USA. However, the extent to which the impact of the pandemic on overdose deaths has varied across different demographics in urban neighborhoods is unclear. ⋯ The worst effects were seen in the poor, urban neighborhoods, affecting Black and Hispanic communities. However, more affluent, suburban White communities also experienced a rise in overdose deaths. A better understanding of contributing factors is needed to guide interventions at the local, regional, and national scales.
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Annals of family medicine · Apr 2022
Utilizing primary care to engage patients on opioids in a psychological intervention for chronic pain.
Context: Chronic pain, one of the most prevalent issues encountered in primary care, is often treated with opioid prescriptions. Overuse of these medications can cause overdose and death, creating a dire need for alternative treatment methods. Psychological interventions are effective for improving pain and distress, yet are underutilized. ⋯ This suggests that engaging patients who are on opioids in a psychological treatment for chronic pain, specifically in a primary care setting, may increase utilization. However, this may be true for women, but not men. Further work needs to be done to identify methods to increase psychological intervention engagement among all patients receiving opioids, but especially men.