Overview

Appropriate Opioid Quantities for Acute Pain - Pharmacist Study

Status:
Enrolling by invitation

Trial end date:
2021-06-01

Target enrollment:
0

Participant gender:
All

Summary

Prescription opioids contribute to opioid related deaths, overdose and addiction. Unused prescribed opioids are not routinely being stored or disposed of appropriately and their availability is associated with harms. Maximum daily doses prescribed are higher than that recommended in a significant number of patients. This study is designed to help have appropriate doses and quantities of opioids dispensed for the treatment of short-term pain. Rather than targeting prescribing, this study targets the dispensing process by training community pharmacists to assess the appropriateness and safety of opioid prescriptions for short-term pain and to work with patients to partially fill prescriptions if the quantities prescribed are deemed excessive. Patient education tools were developed to help promote understanding of opioid safety, including the use of appropriate quantities, safe storage and safe disposal. Pharmacists in five randomly selected regions in Ontario, Canada are targeted for the eLearning intervention. The primary study outcome is the quantities dispensed for initial opioid prescriptions for short-term pain in the intervention regions compared to ten control regions.

Phase:

Phase 4

Accepts Healthy Volunteers?

Details

Lead Sponsor:

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Collaborators:

Institute of Safe Medication Practices Canada
North York General Hospital
Ontario Drug Policy Research Network
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

Treatments:

Analgesics, Opioid

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- Any pharmacist working in a community pharmacy in the intervention regions.

- Any patient seeking to fill an opioid prescription for acute pain at a pharmacy in the
intervention regions.

Exclusion Criteria:

- None