Best practices for community-based overdose education and naloxone distribution programs: results from using the Delphi approach.

BACKGROUND: Opioid-related overdose deaths have surged in the USA over the last two decades. Overdose fatalities are preventable with the timely administration of naloxone. Syringe service programs (SSP) have pioneered community-based naloxone distribution through overdose prevention and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs. There is a dearth of information with regards to best practices for community-based OEND. METHODS: We utilized a modified Delphi approach to develop a set of best practices for OEND delivery. Starting with an initial list of best practices, we engaged 27 experts, in the field of OEND programming who reviewed, made recommendations for changes, and assigned a priority to each best practice. RESULTS: Two rounds of input resulted in a final list of 20 best practices organized into four categories. The mean priority scores ranged from 1.17 to 2.17 (range 1 to 3). The top 5 ranked best practices were ensuring that SSP participants have low barrier, consistent, needs-based access to naloxone and that there is ample naloxone available within communities. While the remaining fifteen best practices were deemed important, they had more to do with organizational culture and implementation climate. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing community-based OEND delivery is essential to reduce opioid overdose deaths; however, it will be insufficient to add programs without an eye toward quality of implementation and fidelity to the model upon which the evidence is based. This list of best practices summarizes the consensus among OEND experts and can serve as a tool for SSPs providing OEND programming to improve services.

Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Within Syringe Service Programs - United States, 2019.

Syringe service programs (SSPs), which provide access to sterile syringes and other injection equipment and their safe disposal after use,* represent a highly successful human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention intervention. SSPs are associated with a 58% reduction in the incidence of HIV infection among persons who inject drugs (1). In addition, SSPs have led efforts to prevent opioid overdose deaths by integrating evidence-based opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs (2-4). OEND programs train laypersons to respond during overdose events and provide access to naloxone and directions for drug delivery (2-4). SSPs are ideal places for OEND because they provide culturally relevant services designed to reach persons at high risk for experiencing or observing an opioid overdose. A 2013 survey found that only 55% of SSPs in the United States had implemented OEND (5). To characterize current implementation of OEND among SSPs, and to describe the current reach (i.e., the ratio of persons who received naloxone per opioid overdose death and the ratio of naloxone doses distributed per opioid overdose death) of SSP-based OEND programs by U.S. Census division,† a survey of known U.S. SSPs was conducted in 2019, which found that 94% of SSPs had implemented OEND. In addition, the reach of SSP-based OEND programs varied by U.S. Census division. Scaling up of SSP-based OEND delivery programs could be a critical component for areas of the country with high opioid overdose death rates and low reach.

Addressing overdose risk among unstably housed women in San Francisco, California: an examination of potential fentanyl contamination of multiple substances.

BACKGROUND: Numerous reports have led to concerns that fentanyl is added to many street drugs as an adulterant, including to stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine, and could increase risks for negative health outcomes. METHODS: We collected information regarding recent substance use through self-report and urine toxicology (confirmed with mass spectrometry) once a month for up to 6 monthly study visits from a probability sample of 245 women in San Francisco with a history of housing instability (2016-2019). We compared the presence of fentanyl metabolites with (1) the presence of metabolites for other substances and (2) self-reported past week substance use. RESULTS: Out of 1050 study visits, fentanyl metabolites were detected 35 times (i.e., at 3% of all study visits and among 19/245, or 8% of all women). In most but not all (91%, or 32/35) of these detected cases, heroin or opioid medication use was self-reported. Among women who reported cocaine or methamphetamine use, but did not use heroin or opioid medication, fentanyl was detected in only 1 of 349 cases (0.3%). In adjusted logistic regression, the presence of fentanyl metabolites was independently associated with (1) presence of opiate, heroin, and benzodiazepine metabolites, and (2) self-reported past week use of heroin and opioid medications. Fentanyl metabolite detection was not independently associated with cocaine or methamphetamine use. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of fentanyl metabolites in this population was almost entirely among women who also reported using heroin or opioid pills. These data do not support the hypothesis that fentanyl is being routinely added to stimulants as an adulterant on a large scale in this region.

Community-Based Response to Fentanyl Overdose Outbreak, San Francisco, 2015.

This report documents a successful intervention by a community-based naloxone distribution program in San Francisco. The program and its partner organizations, working with participants who use drugs, first identified the appearance of illicitly made fentanyl and increased outreach and naloxone distribution. Distribution of naloxone and reported use of naloxone to reverse opioid-involved overdoses increased significantly while the number of opioid-involved and fentanyl-involved overdose deaths did not. Community-based programs that provide training and naloxone to people who use drugs can serve as an early warning system for overdose risk and adaptively respond to the rapidly changing overdose risk environment.

Neighborhood-Level and Spatial Characteristics Associated with Lay Naloxone Reversal Events and Opioid Overdose Deaths.

There were over 23,000 opioid overdose deaths in the USA in 2013, and opioid-related mortality is increasing. Increased access to naloxone, particularly through community-based lay naloxone distribution, is a widely supported strategy to reduce opioid overdose mortality; however, little is known about the ecological and spatial patterns of the distribution and utilization of lay naloxone. This study aims to investigate the neighborhood-level correlates and spatial relationships of lay naloxone distribution and utilization and opioid overdose deaths. We determined the locations of lay naloxone distribution sites and the number of unintentional opioid overdose deaths and reported reversal events in San Francisco census tracts (n = 195) from 2010 to 2012. We used Wilcoxon rank-sum tests to compare census tract characteristics across tracts adjacent and not adjacent to distribution sites and multivariable negative binomial regression models to assess the association between census tract characteristics, including distance to the nearest site, and counts of opioid overdose deaths and naloxone reversal events. Three hundred forty-two opioid overdose deaths and 316 overdose reversals with valid location data were included in our analysis. Census tracts including or adjacent to a distribution site had higher income inequality, lower percentage black or African American residents, more drug arrests, higher population density, more overdose deaths, and more reversal events (all p < 0.05). In multivariable analysis, greater distance to the nearest distribution site (up to a distance of 4000 m) was associated with a lower count of Naloxone reversals [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.51 per 500 m increase, 95% CI 0.39-0.67, p < 0.001] but was not significantly associated with opioid overdose deaths. These findings affirm that locating lay naloxone distribution sites in areas with high levels of substance use and overdose risk facilitates reversals of opioid overdoses in those immediate areas but suggests that alternative delivery methods may be necessary to reach individuals in other areas with less concentrated risk.

Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs Providing Naloxone to Laypersons - United States, 2014.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States have more than doubled since 1999. During 2013, 43,982 drug overdose deaths (unintentional, intentional [suicide or homicide], or undetermined intent) were reported. Among these, 16,235 (37%) were associated with prescription opioid analgesics (e.g., oxycodone and hydrocodone) and 8,257 (19%) with heroin. For many years, community-based programs have offered opioid overdose prevention services to laypersons who might witness an overdose, including persons who use drugs, their families and friends, and service providers. Since 1996, an increasing number of programs provide laypersons with training and kits containing the opioid antagonist naloxone hydrochloride (naloxone) to reverse the potentially fatal respiratory depression caused by heroin and other opioids. In July 2014, the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national advocacy and capacity-building organization, surveyed 140 managers of organizations in the United States known to provide naloxone kits to laypersons. Managers at 136 organizations completed the survey, reporting on the amount of naloxone distributed, overdose reversals by bystanders, and other program data for 644 sites that were providing naloxone kits to laypersons as of June 2014. From 1996 through June 2014, surveyed organizations provided naloxone kits to 152,283 laypersons and received reports of 26,463 overdose reversals. Providing opioid overdose training and naloxone kits to laypersons who might witness an opioid overdose can help reduce opioid overdose mortality.

Estimating naloxone need in the USA across fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid epidemics: a modelling study.

BACKGROUND: The US overdose crisis is driven by fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioids. One evidence-based policy response has been to broaden naloxone distribution, but how much naloxone a community would need to reduce the incidence of fatal overdose is unclear. We aimed to estimate state-level US naloxone need in 2017 across three main naloxone access points (community-based programmes, provider prescription, and pharmacy-initiated distribution) and by dominant opioid epidemic type (fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid). METHODS: In this modelling study, we developed, parameterised, and applied a mechanistic model of risk of opioid overdose and used it to estimate the expected reduction in opioid overdose mortality after deployment of a given number of two-dose naloxone kits. We performed a literature review and used a modified-Delphi panel to inform parameter definitions. We refined an established model of the population at risk of overdose by incorporating changes in the toxicity of the illicit drug supply and in the naloxone access point, then calibrated the model to 2017 using data obtained from proprietary data sources, state health departments, and national surveys for 12 US states that were representative of each epidemic type. We used counterfactual modelling to project the effect of increased naloxone distribution on the estimated number of opioid overdose deaths averted with naloxone and the number of naloxone kits needed to be available for at least 80% of witnessed opioid overdoses, by US state and access point. FINDINGS: Need for naloxone differed by epidemic type, with fentanyl epidemics having the consistently highest probability of naloxone use during witnessed overdose events (range 58-76% across the three modelled states in this category) and prescription opioid-dominated epidemics having the lowest (range 0-20%). Overall, in 2017, community-based and pharmacy-initiated naloxone access points had higher probability of naloxone use in witnessed overdose and higher numbers of deaths averted per 100 000 people in state-specific results with these two access points than with provider-prescribed access only. To achieve a target of naloxone use in 80% of witnessed overdoses, need varied from no additional kits (estimated as sufficient) to 1270 kits needed per 100 000 population across the 12 modelled states annually. In 2017, only Arizona had sufficient kits to meet this target. INTERPRETATION: Opioid epidemic type and how naloxone is accessed have large effects on the number of naloxone kits that need to be distributed, the probability of naloxone use, and the number of deaths due to overdose averted. The extent of naloxone distribution, especially through community-based programmes and pharmacy-initiated access points, warrants substantial expansion in nearly every US state. FUNDING: National Institute of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Bridging institutional logics: Implementing naloxone distribution for people exiting jail in three California counties.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of death among formerly incarcerated people. Distribution of the opioid overdose medication naloxone to people who use drugs reduces overdose mortality, and officials in many jurisdictions are now considering or implementing programs to offer naloxone to people exiting jails and prisons. The principles and practices of harm reduction programs such as naloxone distribution conflict with those of penal institutions, raising the question of how organizations based on opposing institutional logics can collaborate on lifesaving programs. Using in-depth interviews and observations conducted over four years with 34 penal, medical, public health, and harm reduction practitioners, we introduce and conceptualize two organizational features to explain why this therapeutic intervention was implemented in local jails in two of three California counties. First, interorganizational bridges between harm reduction, medical, and penal organizations facilitated mutual understanding and ongoing collaboration among administrators and frontline workers in different agencies. Second, respected and influential champions within public health and penal organizations put jail-based naloxone distribution on the local agenda and cultivated support among key officials. Our findings offer guidance for future studies of institutional logics and policy responses to the overdose crisis.

Overdose prevention and naloxone prescription for opioid users in San Francisco.

Opiate overdose is a significant cause of mortality among injection drug users (IDUs) in the United States (US). Opiate overdose can be reversed by administering naloxone, an opiate antagonist. Among IDUs, prevalence of witnessing overdose events is high, and the provision of take-home naloxone to IDUs can be an important intervention to reduce the number of overdose fatalities. The Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project was the first naloxone prescription program (NPP) established in partnership with a county health department (San Francisco Department of Public Health), and is one of the longest running NPPs in the USA. From September 2003 to December 2009, 1,942 individuals were trained and prescribed naloxone through the DOPE Project, of whom 24% returned to receive a naloxone refill, and 11% reported using naloxone during an overdose event. Of 399 overdose events where naloxone was used, participants reported that 89% were reversed. In addition, 83% of participants who reported overdose reversal attributed the reversal to their administration of naloxone, and fewer than 1% reported serious adverse effects. Findings from the DOPE Project add to a growing body of research that suggests that IDUs at high risk of witnessing overdose events are willing to be trained on overdose response strategies and use take-home naloxone during overdose events to prevent deaths.

Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution in the San Francisco County Jail.

People leaving incarceration are at high risk of opioid-related overdose. Overdose fatalities are preventable with administration of naloxone. In response to this risk, overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs have been implemented in a handful of jails and prisons in the United States. We document the history, structure, and data from the San Francisco County Jail OEND program. During 4 years of operation, 637 people participated; 67% received naloxone upon release, of whom only 3.5% had been previously trained in community-based OEND programs. Of those who received naloxone, 32% reported reversing an overdose and 44% received refills from community-based programs after reentry. This confirms that implementation of OEND in criminal justice settings is feasible and reaches people who have not previously been trained as well as those willing to act as overdose responders.

Naloxone laws facilitate the establishment of overdose education and naloxone distribution programs in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The opioid overdose crisis in the United States continues to worsen. Opioid overdose mortality is entirely preventable with timely administration of naloxone. Since 2001, many states have passed laws to create an enabling environment for the implementation of overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs. We assessed whether state-level naloxone laws and their provisions stimulated the implementation of OEND programs in the United States. METHODS: Covering the period from 2000 to 2014, we utilized five data sources including the Westlaw legal database, the Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System, the Harm Reduction Coalition's OEND database, National Center of Health Statistics and the United States Census. Random effects logistic regression models with robust variances were used to examine the association of naloxone access laws and their provisions with OEND program implementation as of 2014. RESULTS: At the end of 2014, 8% of counties had OEND programs implemented within them. Counties within states that had a naloxone law (aOR = 28.98; p < 0.001) or a law with any one of the six provisions - third party (aOR = 12.86; p = 0.001), standing order (aOR = 11.45; p < 0.001), possession (aOR = 45.97; p < 0.001), prescriber immunity (aOR = 5.19; p = 0.007), dispenser immunity (aOR = 3.50; p = 0.028) or layperson dispensing (aOR = 12.91; p = 0.001) - had increased odds of an OEND program implemented within them, compared to counties within states without a law or specific provision, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that naloxone laws facilitated the implementation of OEND programs. With only 8% of counties having an OEND program within them, future studies should investigate strategies to improve the implementation of OEND programs.

Quantity fluctuations of illicitly used opioids and overdose risk.

BACKGROUND: Reduced opioid tolerance is believed to be associated with overdose risk, although this relationship has primarily been examined in the context of gaps and frequency of opioid use. We sought to assess how changes in the quantity of opioids used, as opposed to periods of abstinence or overall frequency of use, relate to overdose risk. METHODS: Among repeated visits of participants of a behavioral intervention trial from 2014 to 2016, we used multivariable logistic regression models fit with generalized estimating equations to examine the relationship between the percentage of opioid use days on which individuals used more or less than the quantity they used on average (i.e., quantity volatility) and the occurrence of opioid overdose. RESULTS: Our sample included 290 four-month reporting periods among 63 participants (67% male). Opioid overdose events were reported by 28 (44%) participants during 48 (17%) reporting periods. Our measure of quantity volatility had a median of 20% (IQR 0.0-50.0). In multivariable analysis, using a quantity different than the quantity used on average on more than 20% of all opioid use days in the reporting period was significantly associated with odds of any opioid overdose (Adjusted OR = 3.55, 95%CI = 1.55-8.13, p = 0.003), controlling for confounders. CONCLUSION: Quantity volatility of illicitly used opioids was positively associated with overdose risk and may contribute to the complex system of overlapping factors that influence overdose risk. Future observational research among opioid users should collect detailed opioid use data, including quantity used over time, to clarify the patterns that most elevate overdose risk.

Opioid-overdose laws association with opioid use and overdose mortality.

INTRODUCTION: Since the 1990's, governmental and non-governmental organizations have adopted several measures to increase access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone. These include the implementation of laws that increase layperson naloxone access and overdose-specific Good Samaritan laws that protect those reporting overdoses from criminal sanction. The association of these legal changes with overdose mortality and non-medical opioid use is unknown. We assess the relationship of (1) naloxone access laws and (2) overdose Good Samaritan laws with opioid-overdose mortality and non-medical opioid use in the United States. METHODS: We used 2000-2014 National Vital Statistics System data, 2002-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data, and primary datasets of the location and timing of naloxone access laws and overdose Good Samaritan laws. RESULTS: By 2014, 30 states had a naloxone access and/or Good Samaritan law. States with naloxone access laws or Good Samaritan laws had a 14% (p = 0.033) and 15% (p = 0.050) lower incidence of opioid-overdose mortality, respectively. Both law types exhibit differential association with opioid-overdose mortality by race and age. No significant relationships were observed between any of the examined laws and non-medical opioid use. CONCLUSIONS: Laws designed to increase layperson engagement in opioid-overdose reversal were associated with reduced opioid-overdose mortality. We found no evidence that these measures were associated with increased non-medical opioid use.

Predictors of participant engagement and naloxone utilization in a community-based naloxone distribution program.

AIMS: To describe characteristics of participants and overdose reversals associated with a community-based naloxone distribution program and identify predictors of obtaining naloxone refills and using naloxone for overdose reversal. DESIGN: Bivariate statistical tests were used to compare characteristics of participants who obtained refills and reported overdose reversals versus those who did not. We fitted multiple logistic regression models to identify predictors of refills and reversals; zero-inflated multiple Poisson regression models were used to identify predictors of number of refills and reversals. SETTING: San Francisco, California, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Naloxone program participants registered and reversals reported from 2010 to 2013. MEASUREMENTS: Baseline characteristics of participants and reported characteristics of reversals. FINDINGS: A total of 2500 participants were registered and 702 reversals were reported from 2010 to 2013. Participants who had witnessed an overdose [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI)= 1.53-2.66; AOR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.73-4.30] or used heroin (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.44-2.37; AOR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.54-3.13) or methamphetamine (AOR=1.71, 95% CI=1.37-2.15; AOR=1.61, 95% CI=1.18-2.19) had higher odds of obtaining a refill and reporting a reversal, respectively. African American (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.45-0.88) and Latino (AOR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.43-1.00) participants had lower odds of obtaining a naloxone refill, whereas Latino participants who obtained at least one refill reported a higher number of refills [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.33 (1.05-1.69)]. CONCLUSIONS: Community naloxone distribution programs are capable of reaching sizeable populations of high-risk individuals and facilitating large numbers of overdose reversals. Community members most likely to engage with a naloxone program and use naloxone to reverse an overdose are active drug users.

Brief overdose education is sufficient for naloxone distribution to opioid users.

BACKGROUND: While drug users are frequently equipped with naloxone for lay opioid overdose reversal, the amount of education needed to ensure knowledge of indications and administration is unknown. METHODS: We administered four instruments, assessing comfort and knowledge around opioid overdose and naloxone administration, to opioid users receiving naloxone for the first time (N=60) and upon returning for a refill (N=54) at community distribution programs. Participants completed the instruments prior to receiving naloxone; first-time recipients repeated the instruments immediately after the standardized 5-10min education. RESULTS: Comfort with recognition of, response to, and administration of naloxone for an overdose event significantly increased after brief education among first-time recipients (p<0.05). Knowledge of appropriate responses to opioid overdose was high across all assessments; 96% of participants could identify at least one acceptable action to assess and one acceptable action to care for an opioid overdose. Facility with naloxone administration was high across all assessments and significantly increased for intranasal administration after education for first-time recipients (p<0.001). First-time recipients (before and after education) and refillers demonstrated a high level of knowledge on the Brief Overdose Recognition and Response Assessment, correctly identifying a mean of 13.7 out of 16 overdose scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: Opioid users seeking naloxone in San Francisco have a high level of baseline knowledge around recognizing and responding to opioid overdose and those returning for refills retain that knowledge. Brief education is sufficient to improve comfort and facility in recognizing and managing overdose.