title: Safety of opioid patch initiation in Australian residential aged care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore opioid use by aged care facility residents before and after initiation of transdermal opioid patches.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional cohort study, analysing pharmacy data on individual patient supply between 1 July 2008 and 30 September 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty residential aged care facilities in New South Wales.
  
  
  METHODS
  Residents receiving an initial opioid patch during the study period.
  
  
  METHODS
  The proportion of residents who were opioid-naive in the 4 weeks prior to patch initiation was determined. In addition, the patch strength at initiation and the daily dose of transdermal patches and of additional opioids 1 month after initiation were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An opioid patch was initiated in 596 of 5297 residents (11.3%: 2.6% fentanyl, 8.7% buprenorphine) in the 60 residential aged care facilities. The mean age at initiation was 87 years, and 74% of the recipients were women. The proportion of recipients who were opioid-naive before patch initiation was 34% for fentanyl and 49% for buprenorphine. Most were initiated at the lowest available patch strength, and the dose was up-titrated after initiation. Around 15% of fentanyl users and 10% of buprenorphine users needed additional regular opioids after patch initiation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest some inappropriate initiation of opioid patches in Australian residential aged care facilities. Contrary to best practice, a third of residents initiated on fentanyl patches were opioid-naive in the 4 weeks before initiation.
authors.affiliation: University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA svetla.gadzhanova@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gadzhanova
authors.affiliation: University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Roughead
authors.affiliation: Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW.
authors.forename: Lisa G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Pont
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D017751:Safety Management
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid