Theme: Clinical Research Year: 2024
Background: The opioid poisoning crisis has caused an estimated 40,642 deaths in Canada between 2016-2023. In 2023, 22 Canadians died per day. The increase in opioid-related deaths is partly attributed to an increasingly strong and unreliable drug supply, with 84% of opioid-related deaths in 2023 related to fentanyl. In response to this, people who use drugs and their allies are calling for prescribers to provide a “safer supply” to individuals at high-risk of opioid overdose. Safer supply opioid programs involve prescribing pharmaceutical-grade opioids for individuals to consume in place of non-prescribed opioids.
Methods: This convergent mixed-methods observational cohort study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a safer supply program providing prescription opioids to people with treatment-refractory opioid use disorder in Hamilton, Ontario. Our primary outcomes include rates of emergency department visits, medical complications, and overdose; non-prescribed opioid use; and a thematic SWOT analysis of the program from patient and provider perspectives. Our research team includes co-investigators with lived experience, and our participatory research design incorporates input from a patient advisory committee composed of service users and their peers.
Results:The project enrolled 60 participants in total, 50 in the Safer Supply group and 10 in the waitlist group. We have not yet completed analysis but expect to have both quantitative and qualitative data to report for the conference.
Conclusion: Safer supply programs are an emerging clinical intervention in response to the intensifying opioid overdose crisis. Rigorous research on the feasibility and efficacy of these programs is lacking, especially regarding those with a focus on integrating people with lived experience into their design. This study will address that gap and provide insight into the benefits and challenges of integrating service users and people with lived experience in the design of our study as a socially accountable research methodology.
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