The Association between COVID-19 and Changes in Opioid Prescribing Patterns and Opioid-Related Overdoses: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent data suggest that restrictions related to COVID-19 resulted in changes in the prescribing patterns of opioids.

Aims

We sought to analyze Ontario health data for changes in frequencies among new and continuing users for the following opioid prescription characteristics: the type of opioid, the average daily dose, and the prescriber's specialty.

Methods

Utilizing data on the Ontario Health Data Platform, we defined two 149-day windows as "before" and "after" based on the initial COVID-19 provincial lockdown. A total of 882,268 individuals met our inclusion criteria and were classified as either "new" or "continuing" users. Chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests were applied for each level of our primary outcomes to determine whether there were signi

SUBMITTER: Robins A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10081074 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature