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Purpose The purpose of the study is to determine whether initiatives to improve the safety of opioid prescribing decreased injuries in people using chronic opioid therapy (COT). Methods: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using data from Group Health (GH), an integrated health care delivery system in the United States. In 2007, GH implemented initiatives which substantially reduced daily opioid dose and increased patient monitoring. Among GH members age 18 or older receiving COT between 2006 and 2014, we compared injury rates for patients in GH's integrated group practice (IGP; exposed to the initiatives) vs patients cared for by contracted providers (not exposed). Injuries were identified using a validated algorithm. We calculated injury incidence during the baseline (preintervention) period from 2006 to 2007; the dose reduction period, 2008 to 2010; and the risk stratification and monitoring period, 2010 to 2014. Using modified Poisson regression, we estimated adjusted relative risks (RRs) representing the relative change per year in injury rates. Results: Among 21 853 people receiving COT in the IGP and 8260 in contracted care, there were 2679 injuries during follow‐up. The baseline injury rate was 1.0% per calendar quarter in the IGP and 0.9% in contracted care. Risk reduction initiatives did not decrease injury rates: Within the IGP, the RR in the dose reduction period was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.95‐1.07) and in the risk stratification and monitoring period, 0.99 (95% CI, 0.95‐1.04). Injury trends did not differ between the two care settings. Conclusions: Risk reduction initiatives did not decrease injuries in people using COT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We aimed to determine if opioid risk reduction initiatives including dose reduction and risk mitigation strategies for chronic noncancer pain patients receiving chronic opioid therapy (COT) had a differential impact on average daily opioid doses of COT patients at higher risk for opioid-related adverse outcomes compared with lower-risk patients. Design Interrupted time series. Setting Group Health Cooperative (GH), a health care delivery system and insurance within Washington State, between 2006 and 2014. Population GH enrollees on COT defined as receiving a supply of 70 or more days of opioids within 90 days using electronic pharmacy data for filled prescriptions. Methods We compared the average daily morphine equivalent doses (MED) of COT patients with and without each of the following higher-risk characteristics: mental disorders, substance use disorders, sedative use, and male gender. Results In all four pairwise comparisons, the higher-risk subgroup had a higher average daily MED than the lower-risk subgroup across the study period. Adjusted for covariates, modest differences in the annual rate of reduction in average daily MED were noted between higher- and lower-risk subgroups in three pairwise comparisons: those with mental disorders vs without (–8.2 mg/y vs –5.2 mg/y, P  = 0.005), with sedative use vs without (–9.2 mg/y vs –5.8 mg/y, P  = 0.004); mg), in men vs women (–8.8 mg/y vs –5.9 mg/y, P  = 0.01). Conclusion Using clinical policy initiatives in a health care system, dose reductions were achieved among COT patients at higher risk for opioid-related adverse outcomes that were at least as large as those among lower-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outdoor experience's core element of connection to the earth is a central feature of an environmental-education project in Canl forest sanctuary (Chile). Developed to provide integrated environmental and adventure-education experiences to forest visitors, the project expanded to train local youth as ecotourism guides and native-tree nursery workers, offering sustainable sources of income to local people. (SV)

Objectives: To determine whether higher cumulative proton pump inhibitor (PPI) exposure is associated with greater dementia risk. Design: Prospective population‐based cohort study. Setting: Kaiser Permanente Washington, an integrated healthcare delivery system in Seattle, Washington. Participants: Individuals aged 65 and older without dementia at study entry (N = 3,484). Measurements: Participants were screened for dementia every 2 years, and those who screened positive underwent extensive evaluation. Dementia outcomes were determined using standard diagnostic criteria. Time‐varying PPI exposure was determined from computerized pharmacy data and consisted of total standardized daily doses (TSDDs) dispensed to an individual in the prior 10 years. We also assessed duration of use. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate the association between PPI exposure and time to dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results: Over a mean follow‐up of 7.5 years, 827 participants (23.7%) developed dementia (670 with possible or probable AD). PPI exposure was not associated with risk of dementia (P = .66) or AD (P = .77). For dementia, the risk for specific levels of cumulative exposure compared to no use was: 365 TSDDs (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.65–1.18), 1,095 TSDDs (HR 0.99, CI 0.75–1.30) and 1,825 TSDDs (HR 1.13, CI 0.82–1.56). These TSDD levels represent approximately 1, 3 and 5 years of daily use respectively. Duration of PPI use was not associated with dementia outcomes either. Conclusion: Proton pump inhibitor use was not associated with dementia risk, even for people with high cumulative exposure. Although there are other safety concerns with long‐term PPI use, results from our study do not support that these medications should be avoided out of concern about dementia risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analgesics are commonly used by older adults, raising the question of whether their use might contribute to dementia risk and neuropathologic changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study is a population-based study of brain aging and incident dementia among people 65 years or older who are community dwelling and not demented at entry. Amyloid-β (Aβ)42 and phospho-tau were quantified using Histelide in regions of cerebral cortex from 420 brain autopsies. Total standard daily doses of prescription opioid and non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) exposure during a defined 10-year exposure window were identified using automated pharmacy dispensing data and used to classify people as having no/low, intermediate, or high exposure. People with high NSAID exposure had significantly greater Aβ42 concentration in middle frontal gyrus and superior and middle temporal gyri, but not inferior parietal lobule; no Aβ42 regional concentration was associated with prescription opioid usage. People with high opioid usage had significantly greater concentration of phospho-tau in middle frontal gyrus than people with little-to-no opioid usage. Consistent with our previous studies, findings suggest that high levels of NSAID use in older individuals may promote Aβ42 accumulation in cerebral cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dose reduction and risk mitigation initiatives have been recommended to reduce opioid-related risks among patients receiving chronic opioid therapy (COT), but questions remain over whether these initiatives worsen pain control and quality of life. In 2014 to 2015, we interviewed 1,588 adult COT patients within a health care system in Washington State and compared those who received dose reduction and risk mitigation initiatives in primary care clinics (intervention) with patients in comparable health care settings without initiatives (control). The primary outcomes were pain assessed using the pain, enjoyment, and general activity (PEG) scale, a 3-item scale to assess global pain intensity and interference, with secondary measures including depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 scale). Generalized estimating equations for linear regression models were used to estimate differences in mean scores between intervention and control sites. Estimated differences, adjusted for patient characteristics and weighted for nonresponse, between patients at intervention and control clinics were not clinically significant for the PEG (-.03, 95% confidence interval = -.25 to .19) or Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (-.64, 95% confidence interval = -1.19 to -.08). We found no evidence that COT patients in clinics with dose reduction and risk mitigation initiatives had clinically meaningful differences in pain intensity, interference with activities and enjoyment of life, or depressive symptoms compared with control health care settings.Perspective: This article evaluates the effect of dose reduction and risk mitigation initiatives, such as those recently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to reduce risks associated with COT on global pain and interference, depressive symptoms, and perceived pain relief and bothersomeness of side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]