Initiation of opioid agonist therapy after hospital visits for opioid poisonings in Ontario

We examined the impact of the release of the OUD management guideline on OAT initiation rates using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models.RESULTS: Among 20 702 hospital visits for opioid toxicity among patients with OUD, the median age was 35 years, and 65.1% were male. Over the study period, the percentage of visits leading to OAT initiation within 7 days rose from 1.7% or less (Q1 2013) to 5.6% (Q1 2020); however, the publication of the Canadian OUD management guideline was not associated with a significant increase in these rates (0.14% slope change, 95% confidence interval -0.11% to 0.38%; p = 0.3).INTERPRETATION: Among hospital encounters for opioid toxicity, despite rising prevalence over time, only 1 in 18 patients were dispensed OAT within a week of discharge in early 2020. These findings highlight missed opportunities to initiate therapies proven to reduce mortality in patients with OUD.PMID:38110219 | PMC:PMC10727793 | DOI:10.1503/cmaj.231014

Source: cmaj - December 18, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tina Hu Daniel McCormack David N Juurlink Tonya J Campbell Ahmed M Bayoumi Pamela Leece Jessica T Kent Tara Gomes Source Type: research