Older Aussies and opioids
June 19, 2012
MORE older Australians are
receiving pharmacotherapy
treatment for opioid dependence,
according to the latest report from
the Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare (AIHW).
The National Opioid
Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual
Data collection: 2011 report looked
at a single snapshot period (usually
a day) in June 2011, and found
that during that time there were
46,446 patients receiving
medications used to treat opioid
dependence and 1,444 prescribers.
The three medications for opioid
dependence looked at in the report
included methadone, buprenorphine,
and buprenorphine-naloxone
(buprenorphine in combination
with naloxone).
Interestingly the report found
that the proportion of patients
receiving pharmacotherapy
treatment for opioid dependence
who were aged 30 and over increased
from 72% in 2006 to 85% in 2011.
The median age of patients on
the medications during the
snapshot was 38 years, whilst
almost one in ten (9%) were
identified as Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander descent.
“Of the drugs reported in the
2011 collection, methadone was
still the drug most commonly used
to treat opioid dependence,
although the proportion of clients
taking buprenorphine–naloxone
increased from 5% in 2006 to 17%
in 2011,” said AIHW spokesperson
Anna White.
According to the report in 2011
69% of patients took methadone
and 14% took buprenorphine.
The report also found that
buprenorphine-naloxone was used
more by younger clients than older
patients, with methadone more
likely to be used among patients
older than 40 years.
In terms of prescribers, the
report found that the most
common prescriber type was
private prescribers, whilst the
proportion of prescribers authorised
to prescribe more than one
pharmacotherapy drug had increased
from 51% in 2006 to 77% in 2011.
In addition there were 2,264
pharmacotherapy dosing point
sites in 2010–11, an increase of 64
sites from 2009–10, whilst most
(88%) dosing points were found to
be located in pharmacies.
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