Effect of an Opioid Disposal Pouch Versus Usual Care on Post Discharge Disposal of Unused Medication

NeuroTherapia, Inc.

Status: Completed

Conditions: Drug Prescriptions

Treatments: Other: Disposal pouch

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04553588

17-801

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of the study is to determine if opioid disposal bags/pouches are an effective method for disposing of unused opioid medications postoperatively

Full description

Opioids are dispensed regularly to manage postoperative pain in patients undergoing surgery in hospitals and same day surgery centers. There has been a rise in the number of opioid misuse and overdoses nationally, with Ohio ranked first in the nation for drug overdose deaths in 2014 and Cuyahoga County leading the state with 666 overdose deaths in 2016(ref) As health care providers, it is our responsibility to respond to this epidemic. One measure to address this is to reduce the number of unused prescription opioids that remain in patients' possession when they no longer need them. (ref) Doing so will maximize safety by decreasing the availability of unused opioids. The purpose of this study is to determine if a product that deactivates opioids will be used as designed after oral opioid medication is no longer needed. The design of this study is a quality initiative project using a randomized control design. The setting is a surgery center in a suburban hospital in Cuyahoga County. The population is all adult surgery center patients that are prescribed opioids postoperatively who are discharged the same day. In addition to usual care, a medication disposal bag with instructions on how to use will be given to the patient prior to discharge. The patient will be called 30-45 days post discharge. The data will be collected on a case report form that will include information about disposal and information obtained from the patients medical record.

Enrollment: 313 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults (>18 years)
• Scheduled to go home on the day of surgery
• Received a prescription for opioids
• Willing to provide a telephone number and receive a phone call 30 days after surgery

Exclusion Criteria

• Moderate to severe cognitive decline requiring caregiver support
• Not able to speak or understand English (instructions only available in English)
• Behavioral health diagnosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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313 participants in 2 patient groups

Opioid Disposal Pouch

Active Comparator group

Description:

an opioid disposal pouch to inactivate and dispose of unused opioid medication within the first 30 days after surgery

Treatment:

Other: Disposal pouch

Usual Care

No Intervention group

Description:

usual medication disposal includes multiple options as desired by patient; for example, flushing down toilet, giving to local pharmacist, giving to police department etc.