Prescribing Patterns, Substance Use Disorder Diagnoses and Access to Treatment Prior to Substance-Related Toxicity Deaths in Ontario

Prescribing Patterns, Substance Use Disorder Diagnoses and Access to Treatment Prior to Substance-Related Toxicity Deaths in Ontario Prescribing Patterns, Substance Use Disorder Diagnoses, and Access to Treatment Prior to Substance-Related Toxicity Deaths in Ontario Stimulant, Opioid, Benzodiazepine, and Alcohol-Related Toxicity Deaths March 2024 A Report By The Ontario Drug Policy Research Networ. [...] We found that in the year prior to death, 41.5% (N=325) of people who had a benzodiazepine-related toxicity death had at least one outpatient healthcare visit related to a substance use disorder (excluding visits related to alcohol use disorders), although we were unable to determine if these were related to benzodiazepine use or other substance use disorders. [...] For opioid use disorder diagnoses, prior OAT and fee codes specific to the provision of this treatment were used to supplement the definition of opioid use disorder in this study. [...] For example, nearly half of people who died from alcohol-related toxicity (48.6%) engaged with the hospital system in the 5 years prior to death for an alcohol use disorder, while only 1 in 4 people who died from opioid-related toxicity (25.7%) or stimulant-related toxicity (26.7%) engaged with the hospital system for reasons associated to an opioid or stimulant use disorder diagnoses over a simil. [...] These findings reflect the need for responses to substance- related toxicities to be responsive to the needs of both men and women and to recognize the high prevalence of substance use disorders among women at risk of harms.