Premium
Estimating the proportion of patients who transition to long‐term opioid use following oxycodone initiation in the emergency department
Author(s) -
Nguyen Jennie P,
Harding Andrew M,
Greene Shaun L
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/1742-6723.13644
Subject(s) - medicine , oxycodone , heroin , emergency department , opioid , emergency medicine , medical prescription , retrospective cohort study , prospective cohort study , cohort study , population , pediatrics , anesthesia , drug , psychiatry , pharmacology , receptor , environmental health
Objective To report the number of patients discharged from ED with oxycodone immediate release (IR) over 12 months and estimate the proportion who potentially transition to long‐term opioid use and subsequent injectable heroin use. Methods Retrospective observational data were collected from a major tertiary‐referral metropolitan ED in Melbourne, Australia, describing the number of patients discharged with an oxycodone IR prescription and proportion of discharge scripts filled. These data were projected against published data reporting trends on patients' trajectory to long‐term opioid use, to subsequently estimate the proportion of patients from this cohort that may transition to injectable heroin use. Results Of the 87 551 ED presentations in 2018, there were 4843 prescriptions written for oxycodone IR for 4102 different patients. An estimated 279 patients may become long‐term opioid users following initial ED presentation. Of these 279 patients, 1.4 patients may potentially transition to injectable heroin use. Conclusion Modelling opioid use behaviour in an ED population demonstrated the potential development of unintentional long‐term opioid use, and associated harms. Prospective study is required to fully understand trajectories of patients dispensed outpatient therapy from Australian EDs.