Pharmaceutical opioid poisonings in Victoria, Australia: Rates and characteristics of a decade of emergency department presentations among nine pharmaceutical opioids.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Pharmaceutical opioids are a significant contributor to the global 'opioid crisis', yet few studies have comprehensively distinguished between opioid types. We measured whether a range of common pharmaceutical opioids varied in their contribution to the rates and characteristics of harm in a population-wide indicator of non-fatal overdose.

Design

Retrospective observational study of emergency department (ED) patient care records in the Victorian Emergency Minimum Data set (VEMD), July 2009 to June 2019.

Setting

Victoria, Australia.

Cases

ED presentations for non-fatal overdose related to pharmaceutical opioid use (n = 5403), where the specific pharmaceutical opioid was documented.

Measurements

We compared harms across the nine individ

SUBMITTER: Lam T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9292229 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature