Articles: opioid.
-
Int. J. Drug Policy · Aug 2017
Comparative StudyPrevalence of prescription opioid use disorder among chronic opioid therapy patients after health plan opioid dose and risk reduction initiatives.
No studies have assessed the comparative effectiveness of guideline-recommended interventions to reduce risk of prescription opioid use disorder among chronic opioid therapy (COT) patients. We compared the prevalence of prescription opioid use disorder among COT patients from intervention clinics that had implemented opioid dose and risk reduction initiatives for more than 4 years relative to control clinics that had not. ⋯ Long-term implementation of opioid dose and risk reduction initiatives was not associated with lower rates of prescription opioid use disorder among prevalent COT patients. Extreme caution should be exercised by clinicians considering COT for patients with chronic non-cancer pain until benefits of this treatment and attendant risks are clarified.
-
Contemp Clin Trials · Aug 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialElectronic medication complete communication strategy for opioid prescriptions in the emergency department: Rationale and design for a three-arm provider randomized trial.
Thousands of people die annually from prescription opioid overdoses; however there are few strategies to ensure patients receive medication risk information at the time of prescribing. ⋯ The ED EMC2 Opioid Strategy embeds a risk communication strategy into the electronic health record and promotes medication counseling with minimal workflow disruption. This trial will evaluate the strategy's effectiveness and implementation fidelity as compared to usual care.
-
The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Little is known about perioperative opioid use for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to identify rates of preoperative opioid use, evaluate postoperative trends and identify risk factors for prolonged use after TKA. ⋯ Approximately one-third of TKA patients use opioids within 3 months prior to surgery and this percentage has increased over 9% during the years included in this study. Preoperative opioid use was most predictive of increased refills of opioids following TKA. However, other intrinsic patient characteristics were also predictive of prolonged opioid use.
-
Int. J. Drug Policy · Aug 2017
Opioid analgesics and heroin: Examining drug misuse trends among a sample of drug treatment clients in Kentucky.
In an effort to mitigate Kentucky's prescription drug misuse, legislative intervention efforts were introduced in 2012 and 2013 to better regulate pain clinics, prescribed use of opioid analgesics, and to expand the monitoring of opioid prescriptions. The focus of this paper is primarily on opioid analgesics and heroin and the relationship of use/misuse patterns of these drugs to state drug policy initiatives. ⋯ Findings suggest Kentucky's legislative efforts were effective in reducing illicit prescription opioid use, but heroin use has increased. One possible explanation for this relationship is that as prescription opioids became more difficult to obtain, users turned to heroin as a substitute. The finding of rising heroin use suggests a need for further policy initiatives to reduce heroin use, but the potential effectiveness of this policy remains unclear. Understanding trends may help to guide future policy efforts and pain management treatment strategies to where they might have their greatest impact.