Ontario Drug Policy Research Network
Dramatic variation of opioid use, deaths across province
The use of opioids varies significantly across Ontario, with northern counties demonstrating the highest rates of opioid use and opioid-related deaths, The analysis also found that the number of opioid-related overdose deaths continues to climb. There were 638 opioid-related deaths in Ontario in 2013, approximately one death for every 20,000 Ontarians. Nearly 13 per cent of those deaths involved suicide. In 2012, there were 595 opioid-related deaths.
When looking specifically at Ontario’ s 49 counties, Thunder Bay District and Timiskaming District had the highest rates of opioid-related death in Ontario, approximately four-fold higher than the provincial average. Algoma District displayed the highest rates of opioid-related Emergency Department( ED) visits( 6.2 visits per 10,000 residents), third-highest rate of opioid-related hospital admissions( 3.1 admissions per 10,000 residents) and among the highest rates of prescription opioid use and opioid-related deaths.“ The information can be used to identify regions with the highest need for programs and services to address opioid addiction and overdose such as addiction services, safe injection sites and access to naloxone,” says Dr. Tara Gomes, lead author, a principal investigator of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network( ODPRN) and a scientist at both the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences( ICES), and in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’ s Hospital. The researchers also found there were 3,200 opioid-related ED visits in Ontario in 2014, with about half of those patients being admitted into hospital.“ Prescribed with care, opioids can help some people, but it’ s essential that patients and doctors recognize the potential harms associated with use of these drugs,” says one of the report’ s co-authors Dr. David Juurlink, a senior scientist at the ICES and head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The researchers noted that the report is specific to opioid use by Ontario Drug Benefit recipients. Patients can also access opioids through private insurance, cash payments or the federal public drug program. MD
Opioid use and adverse events in Ontario
Opioid Users in 2015
669,674
Opioid Maintenance Therapy Users in 2015
33,693
Opioid-Related Emergency Department Visits in 2014
3,241
Opioid-Related Deaths in 2013
638
Issue 4, 2016 Dialogue 31