The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Apr 2018
Post opioid overdose outreach by public health and public safety agencies: Exploration of emerging programs in Massachusetts.
Opioid overdose is a significant public health problem. Collaborative programs between local public health and public safety agencies have emerged to connect overdose survivors and their personal networks with harm reduction and addiction treatment services following a non-fatal overdose event. This study explored the prevalence of these programs in Massachusetts and the different ways they have been structured and function. ⋯ This study represents the first attempt to systematically document an emerging approach intended to connect opioid overdose survivors and their personal networks with harm reduction and addiction treatment services soon after a non-fatal overdose event. These programs have the potential to increase engagement with the social service and addiction treatment systems by those who are at elevated risk for experiencing a fatal opioid overdose.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Apr 2018
Comparative StudyUsing medical examiner case narratives to improve opioid overdose surveillance.
Current opioid overdose mortality surveillance methods do not capture the complexity of the overdose epidemic. Most rely on death certificates, which may underestimate both opioid analgesic and heroin deaths. Categorizing deaths using other characteristics from the death record including route of drug administration may provide useful information to design and evaluate overdose prevention interventions. ⋯ Using additional sources of information to classify opioid overdose cases resulted in a modest increase in the count of heroin overdose deaths but identified a substantial number of non-heroin injection-related opioid analgesic deaths. Including the route of administration in the characterization of opioid overdose deaths can identify meaningful subgroups of opioid users to enhance surveillance efforts and inform targeted public health programming including overdose prevention programs.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Apr 2018
A qualitative study comparing physician-reported barriers to treating addiction using buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone in U.S. office-based practices.
Our aim was to compare physician-reported barriers to sublingual buprenorphine (BUP) and extended-release naltrexone (XR-NLT) prescribing in U.S. office-based practices, and to identify potential policies for minimizing these barriers. Only one previous qualitative study has examined physician-reported barriers to prescribing XR-NLT and no qualitative study has compared physician-reported barriers between the two medications. ⋯ While overlap exists, some barriers to BUP prescribing differ from barriers to XR-NLT prescribing.