ReviewPain research & management
Overview of four prescription monitoring/review programs in Canada.
Review in Pain research & management. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of prescription drug monitoring programs at reducing opioid-related harms and consequences: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2019Pooled it
- Trends in prescription opioid use for pain in Canada: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study of 6 provinces.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Trend analysis and future projections of global burden of opioid use disorder (OUD) from 1990 to 2030.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Observational
- Trends in dispensing of individual prescription opioid formulations, Canada 2005-2020.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- Responding to the opioid crisis in North America and beyond: recommendations of the Stanford-Lancet Commission.Lancet (London, England) · 2022Review
- Opioid Use at End-Of-Life Among Nova Scotia Patients With Cancer.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Patterns, trends and determinants of medical opioid utilization in Canada 2005-2020: characterizing an era of intensive rise and fall.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2021Article
- Prescription opioid dispensing in Canada: an update on recent developments to 2018.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2020Article
- Utilization of prescription drug monitoring programs for prescribing and dispensing decisions: Results from a multi-site qualitative study.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2019Article
- Characteristics and Red Flag Correlates of Psychiatric Outpatients in a Mandated-Use Prescription Drug Monitoring Program State: A PBRN Card Study.Addictive disorders & their treatment · 2019Article
- Features of prescription drug monitoring programs associated with reduced rates of prescription opioid-related poisonings.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Observational
- A systematic review of strategies to improve appropriate use of opioids and to reduce opioid use disorder and deaths from prescription opioids.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2018Review
- Effective Canadian policy to reduce harms from prescription opioids: learning from past failures.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2016Article
- Prevalence and correlates of nonmedical prescription opioid use among a cohort of sex workers in Vancouver, Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2015Article
- Article
- Overview of four prescription monitoring/review programs in Canada.Pain research & managementReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrescription monitoring or review programs collect information about prescription and dispensing of controlled substances for the purposes of monitoring, analysis and education. In Canada, it is the responsibility of the provincial institutions to organize, maintain and run such programs.
objectiveTo describe the characteristics of four provincial programs that have been in place for >6 years.
methodsThe managers of the prescription monitoring⁄review programs of four provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia) were invited to present at a symposium at the Canadian Pain Society in May 2012. In preparation for the symposium, one author collected and summarized the information.
resultsThree provinces have a mix of review and monitoring programs; the program in British Columbia is purely for review and education. All programs include controlled substances (narcotics, barbiturates and psychostimulants); however, other substances are differentially included among the programs: anabolic steroids are included in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia; and cannabinoids are included in British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Access to the database is available to pharmacists in all provinces. Physicians need consent from patients in British Columbia, and only professionals registered with the program can access the database in Alberta. The definition of inappropriate prescribing and dispensing is not uniform. Double doctoring, double pharmacy and high-volume dispensing are considered to be red flags in all programs.
conclusionsThere is variability among Canadian provinces in managing prescription monitoring⁄review programs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.