Characterizing dose changes and tapering among opioid users: A brief report on a population-level study in Alberta, Canada.

Objective: Monitoring changes in oral morphine equivalents (OMEs) is an important parameter to understand how opioids are being used at the population level. However, changes in opioid doses and tapering have not been well defined.

Design: We conducted a population-based exploratory data analysis (EDA) to characterize changes in opioid doses and tapering of opioids among patients in Alberta (AB).

Cross-sectional study of rapid tapering of opioid prescriptions following medical regulatory intervention in Alberta from 2013 to 2020.

Objective: To determine if inappropriate tapering/discontinuation of opioids to Alberta patients occurred from mid-2013-2020, as unintended consequences of prescribing guidelines, regulations and policies in response to the North American opioid crisis.

Design: A population-based, repeated cross-sectional time-series study.

Setting: Alberta, Canada.

Defining opioid naïve and implications for monitoring opioid use: A population-based study in Alberta, Canada.

Purpose: Reducing initial exposure of "opioid naïve" patients to opioids is a public health priority. Identifying opioid naïve patients is difficult, as numerous definitions are used. The objective is to summarize current definitions and evaluate their impact on opioid naïve measures in Alberta.

Development and Validation of a Machine Learning Model to Estimate Risk of Adverse Outcomes Within 30 Days of Opioid Dispensation.

Importance: Machine learning approaches can assist opioid stewardship by identifying high-risk opioid prescribing for potential interventions.

Objective: To develop a machine learning model for deployment that can estimate the risk of adverse outcomes within 30 days of an opioid dispensation as a potential component of prescription drug monitoring programs using access to real-world data.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prognostic study used population-level administrative health data to construct a machine learning model.

Pharmacokinetics of Efavirenz 600 mg Once Daily During Pregnancy and Post Partum in Ghanaian Women Living With HIV.

Purpose: The updated World Health Organization guidelines recommend efavirenz (EFV) 400 mg as the preferred alternate first-line antiretroviral therapy to dolutegravir, with EFV 600 mg recommended only in special situations. We examined the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of EFV 600 mg/d during pregnancy and post partum to inform EFV dosing decisions in pregnant women.

Methods: Ghanaian pregnant women with HIV infection initiating tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg/lamivudine 300 mg/EFV 600 mg fixed-dose combination tablet once daily were enrolled.

Characterisation of concurrent use of prescription opioids and benzodiazepine/Z-drugs in Alberta, Canada: a population-based study.

Objective: The objective of this study is to characterise concurrent use of benzodiazepine receptor modulators and opioids among prescription opioid users in Alberta in 2017.

Design: A population based retrospective study.

Setting: Alberta, Canada, in the year 2017.

Benzodiazepine receptor agonist dispensations in Alberta: a population-based descriptive study.

Background: There is increasing concern over the use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs). The objective of this study was to describe BZRA dispensations in the province of Alberta in 2015 according to age, sex and appropriateness.

Methods: A population-based descriptive study of people 10 years of age or older with at least 1 BZRA dispensation in Alberta, Canada, between Jan.

Adding pharmacists to primary care teams increases guideline-concordant antiplatelet use in patients with type 2 diabetes: results from a randomized trial.

Background: Antiplatelet therapy is recommended as part of a strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, compliance with these guideline-recommended therapies appears to be less than ideal.

Objective: To assess the effect of adding pharmacists to primary care teams on initiation of guideline-concordant antiplatelet therapy in type 2 diabetic patients.