Prescription opioid use has increased in Québec in recent years. In view of the serious consequences stemming from drug misuse in this pharmacological class, it is possible that the increase has affected the temporal trend in opioid-related poisoning deaths.
Objectives
Determine the opioid-related poisoning death rates in Québec and describe the temporal evolution of the phenomenon by age, gender of the deceased, manner of death, and type of opioid involved.
Method
Type of study and population
A retrospective trend analysis of poisoning-related death rates from 1990 to 2009 in the population 20 years of age or over.
Data
The death registry of the Registre des événements démographiques and the computerized database of the Bureau du coroner en chef du Québec.
Statistical analysis
A Joinpoint Regression analysis used to determine whether significant…