{"id":22327,"date":"2025-08-22T16:23:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T20:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=journal_article&#038;p=22327"},"modified":"2025-09-03T16:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T20:29:04","slug":"evaluating-regional-and-temporal-variations-in-quality-indicators-for-opioid-initiation-and-pharmacist-medication-reviews-in-ontario","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/evaluating-regional-and-temporal-variations-in-quality-indicators-for-opioid-initiation-and-pharmacist-medication-reviews-in-ontario\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating regional and temporal variations in quality indicators for opioid initiation and pharmacist medication reviews in Ontario: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background<\/strong> \u2014 Quality indicators (QIs) are measures used to evaluate quality of services but are often underused in pharmacy practice. This study examines trends in 2 established QIs in community pharmacy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Methods<\/strong> \u2014 We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study in Ontario using administrative data collected between 2013 and 2023. We measured 2 QIs designed for pharmacy practice annually: (1) percentage of newly dispensed opioid prescriptions exceeding 50 morphine milligram equivalents (MME), and (2) percentage of eligible patients receiving pharmacist medication reviews within 7\u2009days of hospital discharge. Regional differences were summarized using variance calculations, while temporal trends were analyzed using Mann-Kendall tests.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results<\/strong> \u2014 The opioid indicator demonstrated a consistent decline in the percentage of newly dispensed opioid prescriptions exceeding 50 MME across Ontario, with an absolute reduction of 10.5% from 2013 (25.6%) to 2023 (15.1%). High-dose opioid initiation ranged from 12.8% (Central) to 16.7% (West) in 2023 (range 3.9%, variance 2.3%). Significant time trends were found for all regions, with the largest reductions observed in urban regions. For the medication review indicator, provincial trends declined by 7.6%, from 16.7% in 2013 to 9.1% in 2017, followed by a modest recovery to 12.5% by 2023. Regionally, rates of medication reviews varied, with rural areas maintaining higher uptake rates compared with urban centres. Rates ranged from 7.8% (Toronto) to 16.2% (North) in 2023 (range 8.4%, variance 10.0%). A significant time trend was found only in Eastern Ontario.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong> \u2014 Significant declines in high-dose opioid initiation but inconsistent uptake of reviews across regions indicate opportunities for improvement in pharmacy practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background \u2014 Quality indicators (QIs) are measures used to evaluate quality of services but are often underused in pharmacy practice. This study examines trends in 2 established QIs in community pharmacy. Methods \u2014 We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study in Ontario using administrative data collected between 2013 and 2023. We measured 2 QIs designed for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[56,31],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-22327","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-pharmacoepidemiology-and-drug-safety","topic-pharmacy"],"acf":{"citation":"Torabi A, Chu C, Abdul Aziz Y, Yada N, Chaudhry S, Wang T, Gomes T, Tadrous M. <em>Can Pharm J (Ott)<\/em>. 2025; 17151635251358873. Epub 2025 Aug 22.","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/17151635251358873","ices_scientist":[1252,1108],"site":[6733],"research_program":[6746],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ICES | Evaluating regional and temporal variations in quality indicators for opioid initiation and pharmacist medication reviews in Ontario: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Background \u2014 Quality indicators (QIs) are measures used to evaluate quality of services but are often underused in pharmacy practice. 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