Wastewater-based evaluation of the efficacy of oxycodone regulations in Australia
Date
2024
Authors
Verhagen, R.
Gerber, C.
Thai, P.K.
Connor, J.
Loveday, B.
Bade, R.
O'Brien, J.
Jaunay, E.L.
Simpson, B.S.
Chan, G.
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Journal article
Citation
Addiction, 2024; 119(12):2153-2161
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Abstract
Background and Aims: Between 2018 and 2020, Australia implemented major policy changes to improve the quality and safety of opioid prescribing, with a specific focus on oxycodone. This study used wastewater-based epidemiology to assess the efficacy of Australia's regulatory reforms by measuring change in consumption of oxycodone via exploratory analysis.
Design, setting, participants, measurements: Wastewater analysis data on oxycodone consumption was from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program. The program captures data from more than 50 wastewater treatment plant catchments across Australia, equivalent to more than 50% of the national population. Geographic trend analyses were conducted for both major cities and regional areas within all states and territories of Australia over a 6-year period between 2017 and 2023.
Findings: Oxycodone consumption showed a statistically significant increase nationally from 78 mg/day/1000 people (95% confidence interval [CI] = 71, 84) in 2017 to 120 mg/day/1000 people in August 2019 (95% CI = 110, 120), an increase of 52% (95% CI = 42, 62, P < 0.0001). From August 2019 to December 2020, there was a statistically significant decrease from 120 to 65 mg/day/1000 people (95% CI = 60, 71), a decrease of 45% (95% CI = 40, 51), followed by a modest 2.4% increase to the end of the study period in April 2023 (95% CI [2.0,2.7]).
Conclusions: A 45% reduction in oxycodone consumption in Australia from 2019 to 2020 coincided with national policy changes that aimed to reduce consumption of prescription opioids. The overall declining trend in consumption was suggestive of the effectiveness of national interventions in reducing pharmaceutical opioid use. Wastewater-based epidemiology provides an effective approach for assessing the effectiveness of controlled substances policy changes.
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Data source: Supporting information, https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16653
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Copyright 2024 The Author(s). Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Access Condition Notes: Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Queensland, as part of the Wiley - The University of Queensland agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.