ArticleBMJ open2023
Cross-sectional study of rapid tapering of opioid prescriptions following medical regulatory intervention in Alberta from 2013 to 2020.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of opioid use among long-term care residents in Ontario and Alberta, Canada: A multi-jurisdictional, repeated cross-sectional study.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine if inappropriate tapering/discontinuation of opioids to Alberta patients occurred from mid-2013-2020, as unintended consequences of prescribing guidelines, regulations and policies in response to the North American opioid crisis.
designA population-based, repeated cross-sectional time-series study.
settingAlberta, Canada.
participantsResidents of Alberta, Canada aged 18 and older who received an opioid dispense from a community pharmacy from 2013 to 2020.
main outcome measuresThe prevalence of potential rapid tapering was measured at a given date (reference day), enveloped by a data window. Dose changes were measured as oral morphine equivalents (OME) per patient, at multiple time points ('data window' around a reference day). Chronic recipients were identified, and their prescriptions were contrasted 90 days before and after the reference day to measure OME/day changes.
resultsApproximately 9000 dispenses (totalling ~6 million OME) per day were analysed from 2013 to 2020. The total number of opioid recipients was highly cyclic in nature (peaking in winter). The number of chronic opioid recipients remained somewhat stable from ~70K in 2013 to ~86K at the end of 2020. The number of chronic high and very high dose recipients presented a significant decrease after 2017. Approximately 11%-12% of chronic high-dose recipients experienced potential rapid dose tapering at a rate of 50% or more prereference to postreference day at any given point of time. For chronic very high dose recipients, approximately 11.5% experience potential rapid dose tapering at a rate of 50% or more prereference to postreference day at any given point of time. Potential discontinuation remained constant and the interventions did not have a significant impact on the trend.
conclusionThe evidence suggests that changes in prescribing guidelines were not associated with an increase of rapid opioid tapering/discontinuation in Alberta.
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Registered trials
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