Observational studyBMJ open2024
Distribution of intranasal naloxone to potential opioid overdose bystanders in Sweden: effects on overdose mortality in a full region-wide study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03570099 (Naloxone Treatment in Skåne County - Effect on Drug-related Mortality and Overdose-related Complications), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Naloxone Treatment in Skåne County - Effect on Drug-related Mortality and Overdose-related Complications
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Part 4: Systems of Care: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care.Circulation · 2025Guideline
- Effectiveness of naloxone distribution in community settings to reduce opioid overdose deaths among people who use drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- "You've involved us knowing that we don't think about the law like you": a qualitative study on Supersavers' perspective of overdose engagement in Skåne county, South Sweden.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Illicit drug supply, naloxone availability, and overdose mortality in the fentanyl era: a systematic review.Health affairs scholar · 2026Review
- Polydrug overdose mortality caused by synthetic opioids and stimulants: current sex- and age-specific trajectories in United States national data for 2018-2024.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- All-cause mortality and overdose deaths among 4192 people who inject drugs in Stockholm: a 10-year register-based cohort study.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Review
- The implementation of take-home naloxone: Lessons learned from a 3-year take-home naloxone project in Germany.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Broad-scale overdose education and naloxone distribution- 5-year follow-up of a regional program in Skåne County, Sweden.Harm reduction journal · 2025Observational
- Take-Home Naloxone in Opioid Dependency: An Intervention to Reduce Opioid-Related Deaths.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDistribution of take-home naloxone is suggested to reduce opioid-related fatalities, but few studies have examined the effects on overdose deaths in the general population of an entire community. This study aimed to assess the effects on overdose deaths of a large-scale take-home naloxone programme starting in June 2018, using an observational design with a historic control period.
designFrom the national causes of death register, deaths diagnosed as X42 or Y12 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, ICD-10) were registered as overdoses. Numbers of overdoses were calculated per 100 000 inhabitants in the general population, and controlled for data including only individuals with a prior substance use disorder in national patient registers, to focus on effects within the primary target population of the programme. The full intervention period (2019-2021) was compared with a historic control period (2013-2017).
settingSkåne county, Sweden.
participantsGeneral population.
interventionsLarge-scale take-home naloxone distribution to individuals at risk of overdose. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Decrease in overdose deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, in total and within the population with substance use disorder diagnosis.
resultsAnnual average number of overdose deaths decreased significantly from 3.9 to 2.8 per 100 000 inhabitants from the control period to the intervention period (a significant decrease in men, from 6.7 to 4.3, but not in women, from 1.2 to 1.3). Significant changes remained when examining only prior substance use disorder patients, and decreases in overdose deaths could not be attributed to a change in treatment needs for opioid use disorders in healthcare and social services.
conclusionsThe present study, involving 3 years of take-home naloxone distribution, demonstrated a decreased overdose mortality in the population, however, only in men. The findings call for further implementation of naloxone programmes, and for further studies of potential effects and barriers in women. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03570099.
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Registered trials
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.