Photo Credit: SDI Productions
The following is a summary of “Factors Associated with Take Home Naloxone Refusal among Emergency Department Patients Participating in an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program,” published in the December 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine by O’Brien-Lambert et al.
Expanding the equitable distribution of take-home naloxone (THN) has the potential to decrease fatalities associated with opioid overdoses (OD).
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to the Emergency department (ED) who declined THN.
They used prospectively collected program evaluation data from a single urban ED Health Education THN database and electronic health records. Chi-square tests compared categorical variables, and t-tests analyzed continuous variables between participants who refused and accepted THN. A multivariate model identified associations between THN refusal and key characteristics.
The results showed 711 patients admitted to ED who were offered THN, with 334 (46%) declining. In unadjusted analysis, refusal of THN was more likely among those on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3–2.6). Conversely, refusal was less likely among patients with any drug-related overdose (OR 0.6, 95%CI 0.4–0.8) or those receiving a prescription for buprenorphine in the ED (OR 0.2, 95%CI 0.1–0.9).
Investigators concluded the demographic characteristics did not predict acceptance or refusal of THN, but MOUD was associated with THN refusal while initiating MOUD in the (ED), which was linked with THN acceptance.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736467924001756
