The associations of supervised consumption services with the rates of opioid-related mortality and morbidity outcomes at the public health unit level in Ontario (Canada): A controlled interrupted time-series analysis

Original research
par
Robinson, T., Farrokhyar, F., & Fischer, B.

Date de publication

2024

Géographie

Canada

Langue de la ressource

English

Texte disponible en version intégrale

Oui

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Oui

Évalué par des pairs

Yes

L’objectif

This study aimed to assess the impact of the implementation of legally sanctioned supervised consumption sites (SCS) in the Canadian province of Ontario on opioid-related deaths, emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalisations at the public health unit (PHU) level.

Constatations/points à retenir

Twenty-one legally sanctioned SCS were implemented across nine PHUs in Ontario during the study period. Interrupted time series analyses showed no statistically significant changes in opioid-related death rates in aggregated analyses of intervention PHUs. Control PHUs saw a significant increase of 0.38 deaths/100,000 population/month. No statistically significant changes were observed in the rates of opioid-related ED visits in intervention PHUs or controls. No statistically significant changes to the rates of opioid-related hospitalisations were observed in intervention PHUs or controls. This study did not find significant mortality or morbidity effects associated with SCS availability at the population level in Ontario.

La conception ou méthodologie de recherche

Monthly rates per 100,000 population of opioid-related deaths, ED visits and hospitalisations for PHUs in Ontario between December 2013 and March 2022 were collected. Aggregated and individual analyses of PHUs with one or more SCS were conducted, with PHUs that instituted an SCS being matched to control units that did not. Autoregressive integrated moving average models were used to estimate the impact of SCS implementation on opioid-related deaths, ED visits and hospitalisations.

Mots clés

Harm reduction
Hospitals
Mortality
Overdose
SCS/OPS