Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore opioid use by aged care facility residents before and after initiation of transdermal opioid patches.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional cohort study, analysing pharmacy data on individual patient supply between 1 July 2008 and 30 September 2013.
SETTING: Sixty residential aged care facilities in New South Wales.
PARTICIPANTS: Residents receiving an initial opioid patch during the study period.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The proportion of residents who were opioid-naive in the 4 weeks prior to patch initiation was determined. In addition, the patch strength at initiation and the daily dose of transdermal patches and of additional opioids 1 month after initiation were determined.
RESULTS: An opioid patch was initiated in 596 of 5297 residents (11.3%: 2.6% fentanyl, 8.7% buprenorphine) in the 60 residential aged care facilities. The mean age at initiation was 87 years, and 74% of the recipients were women. The proportion of recipients who were opioid-naive before patch initiation was 34% for fentanyl and 49% for buprenorphine. Most were initiated at the lowest available patch strength, and the dose was up-titrated after initiation. Around 15% of fentanyl users and 10% of buprenorphine users needed additional regular opioids after patch initiation.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest some inappropriate initiation of opioid patches in Australian residential aged care facilities. Contrary to best practice, a third of residents initiated on fentanyl patches were opioid-naive in the 4 weeks before initiation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 298.e1-298.e6 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Medical Journal of Australia |
| Volume | 203 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Oct 2015 |