Greater Opioid Use Among Nursing Home Residents in Ontario, Canada During the First 2 Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Colleen J Maxwell, Michael A Campitelli, Cecilia A Cotton and 5 others
PMID 35337790WHAT IT FOUND
Opioid dispensing among Ontario nursing home residents rose after the pandemic began and kept rising through the second wave.
The increase was small overall but larger among residents without dementia and those not frail.
Key findings
01After the pandemic began, weekly opioid dispensing among Ontario nursing home residents showed a statistically significant upward trend.
02The upward trend was more pronounced among residents without dementia and among residents not identified as frail.
03The increased opioid dispensing remained significant when palliative-care residents were excluded and when alternate pandemic dates were used.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used dispensations to estimate medication exposure, not individual-level persistence. It did not provide information on treatment indications, appropriateness, or health and quality-of-life outcomes. It could not comment on the relevance of home-specific COVID-19 infection or death rates. Residents were excluded if they were concurrently admitted to an inpatient facility, lacked a previous full resident assessment, or had missing age or sex.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the rise in opioid dispensing as proof that residents were harmed or that prescribing was inappropriate. The study did not measure individual opioid persistence, indication, appropriateness, falls, pain outcomes, or quality of life.