Supervised Consumption and Drug Related Harm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Natural Experiment of the impact of supervised Opiate Agonist Therapy (OAT) consumption on drug related harm and treatment outcomes
IRAS ID
327396
Contact name
Matthew Hickman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) is used to treat opioid dependence/opioid drug use disorders. Before the COVID-19 lockdown, daily supervised prescription and consumption at pharmacies or community drug agencies was the norm, although there is limited evidence on benefits, both economic or for patients. The COVID-19 led to patients being supplied with weekly or fortnightly supplies of OAT; in the UK this was well-received by patients but there is mixed evidence on the safety and success of this change in practice. This observational cohort study will determine and compare rates of drug related harm (hospital admission, non-fatal overdose, self-harm, drug related deaths), suicide death and all-cause mortality during periods of supervised and unsupervised OAT (methadone or buprenorphine) and off OAT, before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also assess duration and retention on supervised compared with unsupervised OAT, before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will use data from a community drug agency, linked with hospital and mortality data, to identify patients prescribed either methadone or buprenorphine by a community drug agency and assess associations between OAT supervision and suspension and drug-related harm outcomes in multilevel regression models, adjusting for patient-related factors.
REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/PR/0763
Date of REC Opinion
21 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion