Prescribing practices in opioid agonist treatment and changes in compliance to clinical dosing guidelines in British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aim

In British Columbia, Canada, clinical guidelines for the treatment of opioid use disorders (OUD) were updated in 2017, during a period in which the potency and composition of the illicit drug supply changed rapidly. We aimed to describe changes in opioid agonist treatment (OAT) prescribing practices at the population level in a setting in which fentanyl and its analogs have become the primary illicit opioid of use.

Design, setting and participants

This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using three linked health administrative databases in British Columbia (BC), Canada. All individuals with at least one OAT dispensation in BC between 1 January 2014 and 31 August 2021 took part.

Measurements

To assess changes in OAT prescribing practic

SUBMITTER: Guerra-Alejos BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11753427 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature