ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2022
Evaluating interventions to facilitate opioid agonist treatment access among people who inject drugs in Toronto, Ontario during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
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 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic impacts on the health of people who inject drugs using a novel data sharing model.AIDS (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Examining inequities in access to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) take-home doses (THD): A Canadian OAT guideline synthesis and systematic review.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Pooled it
- Factors influencing family physicians' willingness to prescribe opioid agonist therapy using virtual modalities: a qualitative analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Multi-level barriers and facilitators to buprenorphine use in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Drug treatment and support service utilization amidst the COVID-19 pandemic among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: An interrupted time-series analysis, 2015-2022.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Investigating the spatial association between supervised consumption services and homicide rates in Toronto, Canada, 2010-2023: an ecological analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- An individual-based dynamic model to assess interventions to mitigate opioid overdose risk.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who use drugs in three Canadian cities: a cross-sectional analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Structural and social changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on engagement in substance use disorder treatment services: a qualitative study among people with a recent history of injection drug use in Baltimore, Maryland.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Article
- Changes to methadone maintenance therapy in the United States, Canada, and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Review
- Trends in Rates of Opioid Agonist Treatment and Opioid-Related Deaths for Youths in Ontario, Canada, 2013-2021.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Changes in supervised consumption site use and emergency interventions in Montréal, Canada in the first twelve months of the COVID-19 pandemic: An interrupted time series study.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn March 2020, following a provincial COVID-19 emergency declaration, modifications to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) were introduced in Ontario, Canada to promote treatment access amid the pandemic and ongoing opioid overdose crisis. Modifications included federal exemptions to facilitate OAT prescription re-fills, extensions, and deliveries and interim treatment guidance emphasizing take-home (non-observed) doses and reduced urine drug screening for OAT patients.
methodsWe conducted an interrupted time series study using health administrative data from September 17
resultsPost-implementation, the interventions were associated with immediate absolute changes in OAT enrollment (+1.95%; 95% CI=0.04%-3.85%), receipt of take-home doses (+18.3%; 95% CI=13.2%-23.4%), and urine drug screening (-22.4%; 95% CI=[-26.9%]-[-17.9%]) and a gradual absolute increase of 0.56% in urine drug screening week-to-week (95% CI=0.27%-0.86%) beyond the pre-implementation trend. At 26 weeks post-implementation, OAT enrollment and urine drug screening approached pre-implementation levels whereas the increase in take-home doses was largely sustained (+15.0%; 95% CI=4.33%-25.6%). No post-implementation increases in opioid-related overdoses were observed. Death was not modelled (low event frequency).
conclusionChanges to OAT provision following provincial COVID-19 restrictions were associated with an immediate and sustained increase in take-home dose coverage among OAT-enrolled participants, without corresponding increases in opioid-related overdoses among all participants.
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