Excess overdose mortality immediately following transfer of patients and their care as well as after cessation of opioid substitution therapy.

Aims: To investigate clustering of all-cause and overdose deaths after a transfer of patients and their care to alternative treatment provider and after the end of opioid substitution therapy (OST) in opioid-dependent individuals in specialist addiction treatment.

Design, Setting And Participants: Mortality data were identified within a sample of 5335 patients with opioid use disorder who had received OST treatment between 1 April 2008 and 31 December 2013 from a large mental health-care provider in the United Kingdom. We investigated the circumstances and distribution of the 332 deaths identified within the observation window with a specific focus on overdose deaths (n = 103) after a planned discharge, dropout and transfer between services.

Identifying mortality risks in patients with opioid use disorder using brief screening assessment: Secondary mental health clinical records analysis.

Background: Risk assessments are widely used, but their ability to predict outcomes in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment remains unclear. Therefore, the aim was to investigate if addiction-specific brief risk screening is effective in identifying high mortality risk groups and if subsequent clinical actions following risk assessment impacts on mortality levels.

Methods: Opioid use disorder (OUD) patients were identified in the South London and Maudsley Case Register.

Double trouble: Psychiatric comorbidity and opioid addiction-all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Background: Opioid misusers have recognized high mortality but the influence of psychiatric comorbidity in excess cause-specific mortality is unclear.

Methods: Opioid use disorder (OUD) patients were identified in the South London and Maudsley Case Register. Deaths were identified through database linkage to the national mortality dataset.