The following is a summary of “Trends in naloxone prescribed at emergency department discharge: A national analysis (2012–2019),” published in the March 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Ramdin, et al.

It was recommended that patients at risk for opioid overdose have access to naloxone; however, little was known about national trends in naloxone prescribing rates in emergency departments (EDs). For a study, researchers sought to evaluate changes in naloxone prescribing and opioid/naloxone co-prescribing at discharge using national data.

A retrospective review of data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2012 to 2019 was conducted. The primary outcome was the trend in the rate of naloxone prescribing at discharge from ED visits. We also computed the proportion of visits where naloxone was administered in the ED and prescribed at discharge, where naloxone and opioids were co-prescribed at discharge, and where an opioid was administered during the ED visit and naloxone was prescribed at discharge. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize all data, and Spearman’s Rho or Pearson’s correlation was used to describe trends.

An estimated total of 250,365 patient visits where naloxone was prescribed at discharge, with an increasing rate over time (0% of all ED visits in 2012 to 0.075% in 2019, P = 0.002). There were also increases in naloxone being both administered in the ED and prescribed at discharge (PC: 0.8, P = 0.02) as well as in naloxone and opioid co-prescribing (SR: 0.76, P = 0.03). There was an increase in utilization of opioids during the ED visit and naloxone prescribing at discharge for the same visit (SR: 0.80, P = 0.02).

Naloxone prescribing at discharge, naloxone and opioid co-prescribing, and opioid utilization during the same visit where naloxone was prescribed at discharge has increased. Future studies should confirm such trends, and targeted interventions should be implemented to increase access to the life-saving antidote.

Reference: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735675723000062