ArticleBMC health services research2020
Examining correlations between opioid dispensing and opioid-related hospitalizations in Canada, 2007-2016.
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 8 papers.
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.
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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Accidental and Intentional Drug Poisoning Mortality in Older Adults in Spain: Nationwide Trends, 2001-2022.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Innovations, quality & outcomes · 2026Article
- Trends in fentanyl-containing drug samples seized by law enforcement agencies across Canada.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Correlation Between Opioid Drug Prescription and Opioid-Related Mortality in Spain as a Surveillance Tool: Ecological Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Article
- Individualized Prospective Prediction of Opioid Use Disorder.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2023Article
- Toward a digital citizen lab for capturing data about alternative ways of self-managing chronic pain: An attitudinal user study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2022Article
- 'Resurgent', 'twin' or 'silent' epidemic? A select data overview and observations on increasing psycho-stimulant use and harms in North America.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2021Article
- Opioid use, regulation, and harms in Brazil: a comprehensive narrative overview of available data and indicators.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2021Review
- Play the Pain: A Digital Strategy for Play-Oriented Research and Action.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHigh levels of opioid-related mortality, as well as morbidity, contribute to the excessive opioid-related disease burden in North America, induced by high availability of opioids. While correlations between opioid dispensing levels and mortality outcomes are well-established, fewer evidence exists on correlations with morbidity (e.g., hospitalizations).
methodsWe examined possible overtime correlations between medical opioid dispensing and opioid-related hospitalizations in Canada, by province, 2007-2016. For dispensing, we examined annual volumes of medical opioid dispensing derived from a representative, stratified sample of retail pharmacies across Canada. Raw dispensing information for 'strong opioids' was converted into Defined Daily Doses per 1000 population per day (DDD/1000/day). Opioid-related hospitalization rates referred to opioid poisoning-related admissions by province, for fiscal years 2007-08 to 2016-17, drawn from the national Hospital Morbidity Database. We assessed possible correlations between opioid dispensing and hospitalizations by province using the Pearson product moment correlation; correlation values (r) and confidence intervals were reported.
resultsSignificant correlations for overtime correlations between population-levels of opioid dispensing and opioid-related hospitalizations were observed for three provinces: Quebec (r = 0.87, CI: 0.49-0.97; p = 0.002); New Brunswick (r = 0.85;CI: 0.43-0.97; p = 0.004) and Nova Scotia (r = 0.78; CI:0.25-0.95; p = 0.012), with an additional province, Saskatchewan, (r = 0.073; CI:-0.07-0.91;p = 0.073) featuring borderline significance.
conclusionsThe correlations observed further add to evidence on opioid dispensing levels as a systemic driver of population-level harms. Notably, correlations were not identified principally in provinces with reported high contribution levels (> 50%) of illicit opioids to mortality, which are not captured by dispensing data and so may have distorted or concealed potential correlation effects due to contamination.
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