A scoping review of health system guidelines for pharmacist responsibilities when dispensing opioids.

Introduction: Prescription opioid use and evidence of the harm caused by these medicines has increased over the past 20-30 years. Despite a number of system level interventions, the opioid crisis has not yet resolved in Australia or globally. Pharmacists are increasingly required to take a proactive, clinical role to fulfil their responsibility for patient outcomes relating to both medication efficacy and safety.

Pharmaceutical opioids utilisation by dose, formulation, and socioeconomic status in Queensland, Australia: a population study over 22 years.

Background Prescription opioids are a central aspect of pain management and as the prevalence of pain is increasing so is the rate of use of prescription opioids. Increased opioid prescriptions increases the risk of deaths and morbidity. Objective To (a) describe the 22-year trend of prescription opioid dispensing in Queensland, (b) examine the effect of opioid dose, formulation and socioeconomic status on the number of prescriptions dispensed.

Duration of opioid use and association with socioeconomic status, daily dose and formulation: a two-decade population study in Queensland, Australia.

Background There is an association between the duration of prescription opioids use and an increased risk of serious harm, often unintentional. Objective (1) Describe the trends in duration of prescription opioids dispensing and, (2) determine the risk of long-term use (≥4 months) based on patients' socioeconomic status, daily dose in oral daily morphine milligram equivalent, and opioid formulation. Setting Residents of Queensland (2,827,727), Australia from the age 18 years and who were dispensed pharmaceutical opioids from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2018.

Multiple opioid prescribers: A genuine quest for treatment rather than aberrant behaviour. A two-decade population-based study.

Background: Accessing multiple prescribers for opioid prescription, referred to as doctor-shopping, is associated with an increased risk of opioid overdose and fatalities.

Aim: The primary aim of this study was to assess the probability of accessing multiple prescribers among patients dispensed prescription opioids.

Method: A retrospective population-based study using the Monitoring of Drugs of Dependence system of the Medicines Monitoring Unit (MMU) of Queensland Health, Australia.

Awareness and use of medication management services in relation to medication adherence prior to hospitalisation among older adults in Regional Australia.

Background Ageing is associated with changes in physiology, functional ability, declined in cognition and multiple co-morbidities. Alterations in pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects also occur. Medications can improve the quality of life in people with multiple co-morbidities; polypharmacy and ageing could increase risks of medication misadventures and adverse events leading to hospital admissions.

Prescription Opioid Fatalities: Examining Why the Healer Could be the Culprit.

Prescription opioid use has increased rapidly in developed countries, as have fatalities and other related adverse events. This review examines the intrinsic characteristics of opioids, including their mechanisms of action and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, to determine how the use of a regonised pharmacological remedy for a medically confirmed ailment could result in an accidental fatality. Opioids trigger biological processes that inhibit their own therapeutic effect.

Prescribed Dose of Opioids and Overdose: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Unintentional Prescription Opioid Overdose.

Background: The rate of an unintentional drug overdose involving prescription opioids continues to rise. An understanding of the threshold dose and dose(s) associated with unintentional prescription opioid overdose will help to mitigate this epidemic.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to systematically synthesise and meta-analyse studies on doses of prescription opioids and ascertain the doses of opioids that are associated with increased risk of severe opioid poisoning or mortality.