Otufowora Ayodeji, Egan Kathleen L, Chaudhari Piyush V, Okusanya Aderonke A, Ogidan Afeez O, Cottler Linda B
From the Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, NY (AO), Department of Implementation Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, NC (KLE), Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (PVC), Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western New England University, Springfield, MA (AAO), Department of Medicine & Surgery, Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu campus, Ogun State, Nigeria (AOO), Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL(LBC).
J Am Board Fam Med. 2024 Mar 11;37(1):112-117. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2023.230227R1.
A substantial number of opioid analgesics dispensed into communities will go unused and be susceptible to diversion for misuse. Convenient, efficient, and environmentally safe mechanisms for disposal are needed to prevent the diversion of unused opioid analgesics.
This initiative piloted the feasibility of distributing drug deactivation pouches in a community setting and examined community members' acceptance, intention to use drug deactivation pouches, and their current disposal practices of unused opioid analgesics. Although many studies have examined the benefits of deactivation pouches in preventing drug overdose, few have explored community members' perspectives, the feasibility, and the acceptability of these pouches in disposing of unused medications.
In the fall of 2017, we piloted the distribution of drug deactivation pouches to assess the overall interest in the pouches at a 3-day community event and continued the second wave of this pilot in the community from the summer of 2018 to the spring of 2019.Our main outcomes and measures included the acceptance of the drug deactivation pouches and the intention to use the pouches. "Acceptance" was defined as study participants physically taking the kit and "Intention" was how participants intended to use the pouch.
A total of 170 community members were approached at a community event about the drug deactivation pouches and 116 accepted at least 1 pouch (68.2% acceptance rate). In the second wave, 124 community members were approached by Community Health Workers; 100% accepted the pouch. Overall, the acceptance rate was 81.6%. People mentioned significant interest in using the pouches. Furthermore, surveys that assessed community members' intention to use the deactivation pouches showed that 48% intended to use the pouch.
The distribution of drug deactivation pouches is feasible in a community setting and although community members expressed interest in using drug deactivation pouches to dispose of unused opioid analgesics and other drugs, the majority still disposed of their unused medications through other avenues. This, underscore the need to raise community members' awareness about the importance, benefits, and viability of these pouches as a tool for the primary prevention of opioid overdose because of their ease of use, safety, environmental considerations, and cost-effectiveness.
大量发放到社区的阿片类镇痛药将未被使用，并容易被转移用于滥用。需要便捷、高效且环境安全的处理机制来防止未使用的阿片类镇痛药被转移。
本倡议试点了在社区环境中分发药物灭活袋的可行性，并研究了社区成员对药物灭活袋的接受程度、使用意愿以及他们目前对未使用的阿片类镇痛药的处理方式。尽管许多研究探讨了灭活袋在预防药物过量方面的益处，但很少有研究探讨社区成员的观点、这些袋子在处理未使用药物方面的可行性和可接受性。
2017年秋季，我们在一个为期3天的社区活动中试点分发药物灭活袋，以评估社区对这些袋子的总体兴趣，并在2018年夏季至2019年春季在社区继续进行第二轮试点。我们的主要结果和指标包括对药物灭活袋的接受程度和使用意愿。“接受”定义为研究参与者实际领取试剂盒，“意愿”是指参与者打算如何使用袋子。
在一次社区活动中，共有170名社区成员被问及药物灭活袋，116人接受了至少1个袋子（接受率为68.2%）。在第二轮中，社区卫生工作者接触了124名社区成员；100%的人接受了袋子。总体而言，接受率为81.6%。人们表示对使用袋子有浓厚兴趣。此外，评估社区成员使用灭活袋意愿的调查显示，48%的人打算使用袋子。
在社区环境中分发药物灭活袋是可行的，尽管社区成员表示有兴趣使用药物灭活袋来处理未使用的阿片类镇痛药和其他药物，但大多数人仍通过其他途径处理他们未使用的药物。这凸显了有必要提高社区成员对这些袋子作为预防阿片类药物过量初级工具的重要性、益处和可行性的认识，因为它们使用方便、安全、考虑到环境因素且具有成本效益。
