Reductions in emergency department presentations associated with opioid agonist treatment vary by geographic location: A retrospective study in New South Wales, Australia.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction and aims

It is not known if the reduction in ED use during periods of OAT occurs across urgent and low acuity presentations. We aimed to compare the incidence and costs of urgent and low acuity ED presentations of people with opioid use disorder (OUD) in and out of opioid agonist treatment (OAT).

Design and methods

This was a retrospective cohort study (N=24,875), using linked administrative health data from New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Urgent and low acuity ED incidence and associated costs were calculated for periods in and out of OAT. GEE models estimated the adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) for ED presentations. Average costs per person-day were calculated with bootstrap confidence intervals.

Results

Incidence of urgent presentations was lower

SUBMITTER: Jones NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6777861 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature