Network Analysis and Visualisation of Opioid Prescribing Data.

In many countries around the world (including Australia), the prescribing of opioid analgesic drugs is an increasing trend associated with significant increases in drug-related patient harm such as abuse, overdose, and death. In Australia, the Medicines Regulation and Quality Unit within Queensland Health maintains a database recording opioid analgesic drug prescriptions dispensed across the State (population 4.703 million).

Trends in methamphetamine and opioid use among clients of needle-syringe programs in Queensland, Australia: 2007-2015.

Introduction And Aims: Needle-syringe programs (NSP) are an underutilized source of data on drug injection trends; these data are essential for informing public health interventions. We examine trends in NSP service occasions from 2007-2015.

Design And Methods: Using standardised data from 26 NSP outlets through the Queensland NSP Minimum Data Set (QNSPMDS), trends in service occasions among clients intending to inject methamphetamine, heroin, opioid substitution therapy (OST) medications and other pharmaceutical opioids were assessed using multilevel mixed-effects negative binomial regression, adjusting for month, year, age and clustering by site.

Hepatitis C viral infection and imprisonment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people who inject drugs.

Introduction And Aims: An understanding of the relationship between hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection and contextual factors such as imprisonment may contribute to the development of targeted treatment and prevention programs. We examine the associations of imprisonment and drug dependence with lifetime exposure to HCV, and whether these associations differ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people who inject drugs.

Design And Methods: Respondent-driven sampling was used in major cities and 'peer recruitment' in regional towns of Queensland to obtain a community sample of people who injected drugs, which comprised 243 Indigenous and 227 non-Indigenous participants who had ever been tested for HCV.

Patterns of drug dependence in a Queensland (Australia) sample of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who inject drugs.

Introduction And Aims: Despite over-representation of Indigenous Australians in sentinel studies of injecting drug use, little is known about relevant patterns of drug use and dependence. This study compares drug dependence and possible contributing factors in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians who inject drugs.

Design And Methods: Respondent-driven sampling was used in major cities and 'peer recruitment' in regional towns of Queensland to obtain a community sample of Indigenous (n = 282) and non-Indigenous (n = 267) injectors.

Prevalence of mental illness among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland prisons.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of mental disorder in a representative sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland prisons.

Design, Setting And Participants: Cross-sectional assessment of mental health using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and clinical interviews, conducted by Indigenous mental health clinicians who undertook specific training for this purpose, with support from forensic psychiatrists when indicated. We assessed adults who self-identified as Indigenous and were incarcerated in six of the nine major correctional centres across Queensland (housing 75% of all Indigenous men and 90% of all Indigenous women in Queensland prisons) between May and June 2008.