College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta

Poster Authors
Nigel Ashworth, Fizza Gilani, Nancy Hernandez-Ceron, Iryna Hurava, Nicole Kain, Jacqueline Wagner

Summary
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), the medical regulatory authority in the province of Alberta, Canada, is committed to evidence-based regulation and monitoring. As a response to anecdotal reports suggesting that abrupt and potentially inappropriate tapering of opioids could be occurring, the CPSA conducted a study looking at 2015-2020 prescription opioid data. Echoing a previous study by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, we found that ~12% of chronic high-dose recipients have experienced rapid dose tapering (a decrease of 50% or more). This percentage remained stable from 2015 to 2020, and a slight decrease is observed over time down to ~9%. We concluded that rapid opioid tapering or discontinuation in Alberta has been consistent with an overall decreasing trend from 2015-2020, thus disputing anecdotal reports that inappropriate discontinuation of opioids was occurring in the province. This work was approved by the University of Alberta’s Research Health Ethics Board, and will soon (2022) be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Contact
Nicole Kain, RN, BNSc, MPA, PhD
Program Manager, Research & Evaluation Unit
Analytics, Innovation & Research
Email: nicole.kain@cpsa.ca
Phone: 780-969-4906
800-561-3899 ext. 4906

Additional Information
Visit the CPSA website to learn more.

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