'Over the counter' (OTC) opiate abuse treatment.
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Authors
Thekiso, Thekiso B
Farren, Conor
Issue Date
2010-Dec
Type
Journal Article
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Over the counter (OTC) medication abuse is an increasing public health concern. We studied the clinical profiles, treatment and prevalence of patients admitted with OTC opiate abuse.
Using a specially designed demographic form, the records of patients admitted to St. Patrick's Hospital, a 280 bed inpatient mental health and addiction treatment facility in Dublin, with a diagnosis of harmful OTC opiate abuse or opiate dependency as defined in ICD-10 were reviewed retrospectively. All patients diagnosed with OTC opiate abuse (ICD F11.1) or dependency (ICD F11.2) on admission to our centre were included in the study. Patients with a diagnosis of primary illicit opiate misuse were excluded.
Approximately 1% (n=20) of inpatients admitted in a year were diagnosed with OTC opiate abuse. The average daily codeine intake was 261.0 mg per person. Some 75% percent (n=15) of the inpatients experienced OTC opiate withdrawal and were treated with protocol driven withdrawal regimes for an average of 16.10 days. The female: male ratio was nearly 2:1 with an average age of 49.2 years. Patients tended to have co-morbid psychiatric (n=19, 95%), physical (n=17,85%) and polysubstance (n=13,65%) illness.
OTC opiate abuse is a significant problem which is largely covert in nature with serious co-morbidity and frequent complications including withdrawal symptoms which require treatment. Results of this study suggest that further research is warranted in this area.
Using a specially designed demographic form, the records of patients admitted to St. Patrick's Hospital, a 280 bed inpatient mental health and addiction treatment facility in Dublin, with a diagnosis of harmful OTC opiate abuse or opiate dependency as defined in ICD-10 were reviewed retrospectively. All patients diagnosed with OTC opiate abuse (ICD F11.1) or dependency (ICD F11.2) on admission to our centre were included in the study. Patients with a diagnosis of primary illicit opiate misuse were excluded.
Approximately 1% (n=20) of inpatients admitted in a year were diagnosed with OTC opiate abuse. The average daily codeine intake was 261.0 mg per person. Some 75% percent (n=15) of the inpatients experienced OTC opiate withdrawal and were treated with protocol driven withdrawal regimes for an average of 16.10 days. The female: male ratio was nearly 2:1 with an average age of 49.2 years. Patients tended to have co-morbid psychiatric (n=19, 95%), physical (n=17,85%) and polysubstance (n=13,65%) illness.
OTC opiate abuse is a significant problem which is largely covert in nature with serious co-morbidity and frequent complications including withdrawal symptoms which require treatment. Results of this study suggest that further research is warranted in this area.
Description
Citation
Thekiso, T. B., & Farren, C. (2010). 'Over the counter' (OTC) opiate abuse treatment. Irish journal of psychological medicine, 27(4), 189–191. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0790966700001506
Publisher
License
Journal
Irish journal of psychological medicine
Volume
27
Issue
4
PubMed ID
ISSN
2051-6967