ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2022
Availability and use of non-prescribed buprenorphine-naloxone in a Canadian setting, 2014-2020.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perioperative Management of Patients on Buprenorphine.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Buprenorphine deaths confirmed by toxicology reveal a low proportion of opioid agonist treatment before death in Finland.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- Methadone and buprenorphine-related deaths among people prescribed and not prescribed Opioid Agonist Therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBuprenorphine-naloxone (BUP-NX) is a first-line treatment for opioid use disorder and has a superior safety profile compared to other forms of opioid agonist therapy. In Canada, restrictions on BUP-NX prescribing were relaxed in 2016, which may have had an effect on rates of diversion and non-prescribed use. We sought to longitudinally examine the reported availability and use of non-prescribed BUP-NX among people who use drugs (PWUD) in an urban Canadian setting.
methodsWe collected data from two linked prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, and examined self-reported availability and use of non-prescribed BUP-NX over time. We used a multivariable generalized estimating equations model to identify trends and factors associated with the immediate availability (i.e., within 10 min) of non-prescribed BUP-NX.
resultsAmong 1617 participants between 2014 and 2020, the immediate availability of non-prescribed BUP-NX increased from 16% to 63% (p<0.001). In the multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with immediate BUP-NX availability included calendar year (adjusted odds ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence interval: 1.15-1.23), along with a number of other variables suggestive of more severe substance use disorders. Only 17 participants ever reported use of non-prescribed BUP-NX.
conclusionsWe observed that BUP-NX has become increasingly available in the unregulated drug supply in recent years but its use has remained infrequent in this setting. These results suggest that relaxed restrictions on BUP-NX prescribing have not been a major driver of increased non-prescribed use in this population.
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