Quantifying the escalating impact of paramedic transported emergency department visits for opioid-related conditions in Ontario, Canada: A population-based cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

While overdoses comprise the majority of opioid research, the comprehensive impact of the opioid crisis on emergency departments (EDs) and paramedic services has not been reported. We examined temporal changes in population-adjusted incidence rates of ED visits and paramedic transports due to opioid-related conditions.

Materials and methods

We conducted a population-based cohort study of all ED visits in the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2019 in Ontario, Canada. We included all patients with a primary diagnosis naming opioids as the underlying cause for the visit, without any other drugs or substances. We clustered geographic regions using Local Health Integration Network boundaries. Descriptive statistics, incide

SUBMITTER: Strum RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10490960 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature