Opioids

Perinatal Psychoactive Substance Use Among Indigenous Women: Social Determinants

Because of its impact on the health of families and future generations, psychoactive substance use during the perinatal period is a public health concern for the entire population. Understanding the factors that influence psychoactive substance use among Indigenous women in the perinatal period is essential to targeting prevention and health and wellness promotion strategies for First Nations and Inuit people. This synthesis analyzes the factors that emerge from the scientific literature through the lens of social determinants of health.

  • Strong family ties, social support and connection to community, traditional values and culture emerged as protective factors against psychoactive substance use during the perinatal period for Indigenous women. These factors are associated with the social environment and cultural continuity, which are social determinants of Indigenous health.
  • Difficult living conditions (job insecurity, low education level, and frequent reloc…

Medical competencies directory in non-cancer pain management and opioid prescribing– Update

The prescription and use of opioid drugs has increased significantly in Québec in recent years. According to studies recently published by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec – INSPQ (Gagné et al., 2013; Gagné, Dubé, Légaré and Perron, 2015), an increase in the number of deaths and the mortality rate attributable to opioid overdose was also reported in the province between 2000 and 2012, among the population aged 20 and over.

As part of an agreement with Health Canada, a project funded by the Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund (DSCIF) has been implemented in Québec for 2015-2017 in order to address opioid prescribing practices in chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) management, which is often associated with the overdose trends. The grant was awarded to the INSPQ as the project coordinator, in collaboration with the Collège des médecins du Québec, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Université de Sherbrooke, and the Centre de recherche et d’…

A Practical Guide to Support Public Health Management and Intervention in Case of Reports and Episodes of Drug Overdoses

Tools :

Drug use is a current phenomenon creating concern among public authorities and the population. It represents an important public health issue because of the significant social and health impacts associated with it. Overdose, with or without death, is a serious health consequence of drug use. Throughout North America, overdoses are on the rise. This is part…

Opioid-related Poisoning Deaths in Québec: 2000 to 2009

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 chang…