Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32690022›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2020

Too much or too little opioids to patients receiving opioid agonist therapy in Norway (2013-2017): a prospective cohort study.

Jørn Henrik Vold, Svetlana Skurtveit, Christer Aas, Kjell Arne Johansson, Lars Thore Fadnes

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Article in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jørn Henrik VoldDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. jorn.vold@uib.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8701-7638
Svetlana SkurtveitDepartment of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Christer AasDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Kjell Arne JohanssonDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Lars Thore FadnesDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDispensations of opioid analgesics to patients on opioid agonist therapy (OAT) may increase the risk of overdoses. The current study's objectives are to investigate the dispensation rates and mean daily doses of dispensed opioid analgesics among patients who received OAT opioids in Norway during 2013-2017 and evaluate whether discontinuing OAT opioids affects the dispensed dose of opioid analgesics.

methodsInformation on opioids was collected from the Norwegian Prescription Database. Dispensation rates were calculated by dividing the number of patients who were dispensed at least one opioid analgesic by the number of patients who were dispensed an OAT opioid. We calculated the mean daily dose of opioid analgesics in oral morphine equivalents. The OAT opioid dose was defined as a ratio between the dispensed doses divided by the mean recommended dose. We used logistic regression to estimate the association between the dispensation of an opioid analgesic, a dose of OAT opioids, having chronic pain, and being on palliative care.

resultsA total of 10,371 patients were dispensed at least one OAT opioid during the study period. In 2017, 18% were dispensed an opioid analgesic with a mean daily dose of 29 mg of oral morphine equivalents. Being dispensed an opioid analgesic was associated with having chronic pain (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.6, 95% confidence interval: 3.2-4.2), being on palliative care (aOR: 6.1, 4.7-7.9), and receiving an OAT opioid dose below half of the recommended OAT dose (aOR: 1.7, 1.4-2.0). Similar results were seen in 2013-2016. The discontinuation of OAT opioids could increase the dose of dispensed opioid analgesics.

conclusionReducing the dispensation of opioid analgesics can be achieved by increasing the OAT opioid dose for patients on a low OAT dose, and by extending the period needed to taper off the OAT opioid dose at discontinuation.

Indexed as

AdultAnalgesics, OpioidDatabases, FactualDrug PrescriptionsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNorwayProspective StudiesAnalgesics, OpioidChronic painDrug prescriptionsOpioid analgesicsOpioid substitution treatmentPalliative careTreatment outcome

Identifiers

PMID32690022
PMCPMC7370481

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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.