• Ingrid A Binswanger, Deborah Rinehart, Shane R Mueller, Komal J Narwaney, Melanie Stowell, Nicole Wagner, Stan Xu, Rebecca Hanratty, Josh Blum, Kevin McVaney, and Jason M Glanz.
• Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA. ingrid.a.binswanger@kp.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Aug 1; 37 (11): 262426332624-2633.

BackgroundAlthough naloxone prevents opioid overdose deaths, few patients prescribed opioids receive naloxone, limiting its effectiveness in real-world settings. Barriers to naloxone prescribing include concerns that naloxone could increase risk behavior and limited time to provide necessary patient education.ObjectiveTo determine whether pharmacy-based naloxone co-dispensing affected opioid risk behavior. Secondary objectives were to assess if co-dispensing increased naloxone acquisition, increased patient knowledge about naloxone administration, and affected opioid dose and other substance use.DesignCluster randomized pragmatic trial of naloxone co-dispensing.SettingSafety-net health system in Denver, Colorado, between 2017 and 2020.ParticipantsSeven pharmacies were randomized. Pharmacy patients (N=768) receiving opioids were followed using automated data for 10 months. Pharmacy patients were also invited to complete surveys at baseline, 4 months, and 8 months; 325 survey participants were enrolled from November 15, 2017, to January 8, 2019.InterventionIntervention pharmacies implemented workflows to co-dispense naloxone while usual care pharmacies provided usual services.Main MeasuresSurvey instruments assessed opioid risk behavior; hazardous drinking; tobacco, cannabis, and other drug use; and knowledge. Naloxone dispensings and opioid dose were evaluated using pharmacy data among pharmacy patients and survey participants. Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted using generalized linear mixed models accounting for clustering at the pharmacy level.Key ResultsOpioid risk behavior did not differ by trial group (P=0.52; 8-month vs. baseline adjusted risk ratio [ARR] 1.07; 95% CI 0.78, 1.47). Compared with usual care pharmacies, naloxone dispensings were higher in intervention pharmacies (ARR 3.38; 95% CI 2.21, 5.15) and participant knowledge increased (P=0.02; 8-month vs. baseline adjusted mean difference 1.05; 95% CI 0.06, 2.04). There was no difference in other substance use by the trial group.ConclusionCo-dispensing naloxone with opioids effectively increased naloxone receipt and knowledge but did not increase self-reported risk behavior.Trial RegistrationRegistered at ClinicalTrials.gov ; Identifier: NCT03337100.© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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