OBJECTIVES

US community pharmacies are a unique and underused health service setting for identifying and potentially intervening with patients at risk of opioid overdose or opioid use disorder with evidence-based practices such as screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT). The aim of our study was to assess the feasibility of implementing SBIRT in community pharmacies in an urban county in terms of engagement, reach, and equity across the cascade of pharmacy screening and care.

METHODS

Patients aged 18 years or older receiving a schedule II or III opioid prescription at 1 of 17 participating community pharmacies in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, were invited to engage in SBIRT as part of Project Lifeline-II from June 2020 through January 2023. Participants completed a prescreen and/or a full screen. We calculated the percentage of patients who participated across the cascade of pharmacy screening and care, overall and by sex (male and female) and race (Black and White).

RESULTS

During the study period, 1952 unique adults (79.6%) were screened at least once (52.1% female; 58.0% White, 30.7% Black). Patients who identified as male (vs female) and Black (vs White) were more likely to have a positive prescreen (14.7% male vs 9.8% female; 16.4% Black vs 9.5% White), receive and complete a full screen (82.7% male vs 80.0% female; 83.6% Black vs 78.4% White), and score positively on the full screen (26.6% male vs 20.4% female; 26.8% Black vs 21.9% White).

CONCLUSION

Although additional research is needed to characterize the full effect of Project Lifeline-II on patient outcomes, our findings help reinforce the benefits of multipronged public health initiatives that include community pharmacists to address the substance use disorder crisis in the United States.