The number of Queenslanders prescribed opioids has increased 10 fold in 20 years.

New stats show that while prescription is on the rise in Queensland, the number of people dispensed dosages associated with increased risk of accidental overdose has declined.

Experts have analysed Monitoring of Drugs of Dependence System (MODDS) data for adult Queensland residents (18 years or older) for whom opioids were dispensed during 1 January 1997 ‒ 31 December 2018.

The number of patients for whom opioids were dispensed increased from 28,299 in 1997 to 322,307 in 2018.

However, the proportion of opioid prescribers who prescribed opioids at doses of 50 to less than 100 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per day peaked in 2003 (813 of 5,530, or 14.7 per cent), as did the proportion prescribing 100 MME/day or more (1,077 or 19.5 per cent), before declining in 2018 to 1,294 (6.4 per cent) and 1,064 of 22,941 (5.3 per cent) respectively.

“Our findings indicate that most Queensland medical practitioners prescribe lower opioid doses, and that the proportion prescribing lower doses has increased since 2004,” said researcher Dr Adeleke Adewumi, Senior Pharmacist at Maryborough Hospital.

“The proportion of people dispensed doses of opioids associated with increased risk of accidental overdose (from 50 MME/day) was small and has declined over time.”

The study is accessible here.