Restrictive opioid prescribing policies and evolving risk environments: A qualitative study of the perspectives of patients who experienced an accidental opioid overdose.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite policy efforts to prevent overdose, accidental overdoses among individuals prescribed opioids continue to occur. Guided by Rhodes' Risk Environment Framework, we examined the unintended consequences of restrictive policies by identifying macro policy and micro-level contextual factors that patients prescribed opioids for pain identified as contributing to overdose events.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 patients prescribed opioids who experienced an accidental opioid overdose between April 2017 and June 2019 in two health systems.

Results

We identified three interrelated factors that emerged within an evolving risk environment and may have increased patients' vulnerability for an accidental opioid overdose: desperation from

SUBMITTER: Mueller SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9134796 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature