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Table 1 Characteristics of ED visits for opioid overdose, and associations with offering of take home naloxone kits

From: Patient characteristics associated with being offered take home naloxone in a busy, urban emergency department: a retrospective chart review

Visit Characteristic (n = 342)***

Number of ED visits (%)

Unadjusted OR [95% CI]**

P-value

Total (n = 342)

Offered THN (n = 168)

Not offered THN (n = 174)

Patient characteristics

Male sex

234 (68.4)

129 (76.8)

105 (60.3)

2.06 [1.27,3.34]

0.004*

Age (n = 341) (Mean, SD)

38.2 (14.0)

35.3 (11.1)

40.9 (15.8)

0.97 [0.96,0.99]

< 0.001*

Resident of inner city (n = 339)

102 (30.1)

50 (30.1)

52 (30.1)

1.04 [0.66,1.65]

0.86

No fixed address (n = 339)††

23 (6.8)

12 (7.2)

11 (6.4)

1.03 [0.39,2.67]

0.96

Mental health disorder¥

97 (28.4)

37 (22.0)

60 (34.5)

0.62 [0.38,1.01]

0.054*

Current prescription medications

Opioid agonist therapy§

9 (2.6)

1 (0.6)

8 (4.6)

0.15 [0.02,0.91]

0.04*

Any current opioid prescription\( \mathsf{\varPsi} \)

73 (21.4)

21 (12.5)

52 (29.9)

0.37 [0.22,0.65]

< 0.001*

Overdose details

Primary opioid intoxicant (n = 263)a

     

 Pharmaceutical opioid- oral

77 (29.3)

14 (10.5)

63 (48.8)

ref

 

 Pharmaceutical opioid- smoked

7 (2.7)

3 (2.3)

4 (3.1)

3.60 [0.72,18.1]

0.12

 Pharmaceutical opioid- injected

16 (6.1)

5 (3.8)

11 (8.5)

2.11 [0.62,7.14]

0.23

 Illegal opioid- oral

12 (4.6)

5 (3.8)

7 (5.4)

3.39 [0.91,12.7]

0.070

 Illegal opioid- smoked

66 (25.1)

44 (33.1)

22 (16.9)

9.97 [4.66,21.3]

< 0.001*

 Illegal opioid- injected

85 (32.3)

62 (46.6)

23 (17.7)

15.1 [6.61,34.3]

< 0.001*

 Overdosed in public (n = 337)

102 (30.3)

40 (24.1)

62 (36.3)

0.62 [0.39,0.99]

0.043*

 Overdose intentional (n = 340)

28 (8.2)

6 (3.6)

22 (12.8)

0.30 [0.13,0.65]

0.002*

Glasgow Coma Scale Score (n = 291)a

 Severe (3–8)

210 (72.2)

127 (88.2)

83 (56.5)

5.60 [2.76,11.3]

< 0.001*

 Moderate (9–13)

27 (9.3)

6 (4.2)

21 (14.3)

1.11 [0.37,3.30]

0.85

 Mild (14-15)

54 (18.6)

11 (7.6)

43 (29.3)

ref

 

EMS & ED care

Admitted to hospital

56 (16.4)

15 (8.9)

41 (23.6)

0.35 [0.19,0.65]

0.001*

Left against medical advice

34 (9.9)

14 (8.3)

20 (11.5)

0.72 [0.33,1.57]

0.40

Left without treatment/before treatment complete‡‡

29 (8.5)

6 (3.6)

23 (13.2)

0.19 [0.07,0.53]

0.002*

Time day at ED presentationb

 0:01–8:00

94 (27.5)

47 (28.0)

47 (27.0)

ref

 

 8:01–16:00

108 (31.6)

49 (29.2)

59 (33.9)

0.92 [0.54,1.59]

0.77

 16:01–24:00

140 (40.9)

72 (42.9)

68 (39.1)

1.10 [0.65,1.84]

0.73

Time of day at dischargec

 0:01–8:00

121 (35.4)

58 (34.5)

63 (36.2)

ref

 

 8:01–16:00

94 (27.5)

53 (31.5)

41 (23.6)

1.43 [0.82,2.50]

0.21

 16:01–24:00

127 (37.1)

57 (33.9)

70 (40.2)

0.94 [0.55,1.59]

0.82

ED visit during weekend

102 (29.8)

49 (29.2)

53 (30.5)

0.99 [0.61,1.59]

0.96

Length of ED stay (median, IQR)

5.5 (3.3,9.2)

4.52 (2.7,7.6)

6.45 (3.9,11.0)

0.98 [0.95,1.01]

0.20

  1. *** N = 342 for all independent variables unless stated otherwise
  2. ** Odds ratio of being offered take home naloxone for each independent variable
  3. * Statistically significant at the level of 0.1 and thus eligible for inclusion in multivariable analysis
  4. a- Overall P-value < 0.001
  5. b- Overall P-value =0.77
  6. c- Overall P-value = 0.26
  7. † Postal code overlaps Local Geographical Area of Edmonton Eastwood, includes T5B, T5G, T5H, T5J, T5K, T6W
  8. †† Postal code was charted as “no fixed address,” indicating that the patient is likely unstably or homeless
  9. ¥ Anxiety disorder, Bipolar disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Psychosis, Personality Disorder (Axis II), or Schizophrenia)
  10. § Methadone (liquid form, once daily ingestion, max period of 7 days), or Suboxone (once daily dosing, max period of 7 days)
  11. \( \mathsf{\varPsi} \) Does not include prescriptions for opioid agonist therapy
  12. ¶ Oral includes oral (97%), rectal (1%), transdermal (1%), and Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (1%)
  13. ‡ disclosed to the providers that they intended to leave and signed an AMA form
  14. ‡‡ registered with triage and was assessed, but then left without warning or disclosing their intent to leave