New research has found that the number opioid prescriptions for pain in Southwestern Ontario are among the highest in the province.
According to a recent report by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, in 2016 over 180,000 people were prescribed opioid drugs to treat pain in an area that spans Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex, London-Middlesex, St. Thomas-Elgin and Sarnia-Lambton.
In the area covered by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, 68,736 people were prescribed opioids for pain, which accounts for 16.9% of the population.
The public health unit that covers Sarnia-Lambton saw opioid prescriptions reach 16.5% of residents (21,405 people). As well, the area covered by the Chatham-Kent Health Unit came in at 16.3% residents (17,129 people), and Elgin-St. Thomas Public Health saw 16.2% of residents prescribed opioids (14,781 people).
The area covered by the Middlesex-London Health Unit was the lowest in the southwest region, with 12.9% of residents being provided opioid medication (61,500 people).
In 2016, 11.9% of Ontarians, a total of 1,663,181 people, were dispensed an opioid to treat pain, according to the report. The most commonly used opioids were hydromorphone and oxycodone.
Also last year, one-in-seven Ontarians were treated with an opioid and 11.9% of Ontarians, a total of 1,663,181 people, were dispensed an opioid to treat pain. The areas covered by Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge and North Bay Parry Sound health units had the highest rate in the province at around about 17%.
The report found the number of people in Ontario prescribed an opioid remained relatively constant over the past five years.