Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 18, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 22, 2019 - Sep 16, 2019
Date Accepted: Oct 20, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Protocol paper: A prospective cohort evaluating the impact of removing non-prescription codeine in Australia
ABSTRACT
Background:
On 1st February 2018, Australia rescheduled codeine to be a prescription only medication. Many concerns were associated with this change including financial costs, accessibility and the possibility of poorer pain management and a decline in physical and mental health if codeine could not be accessed. There is limited knowledge about the long term benefits and outcomes of these changes in the research literature and, as Australia has followed many countries in implementing this restriction on codeine, further study of the outcomes of rescheduling decisions is critical. The Codeine Cohort study aims to examine the impact of codeine rescheduling on individuals who regularly use over-the-counter (OTC) codeine.
Objective:
To examine the impact of rescheduling codeine from an OTC medication to a prescription-only medicine on the primary measures of codeine use and dependence in a cohort of people who are frequent consumers of OTC codeine. Secondary measures will include pain and coping, health service use and other outcomes.
Methods:
The Codeine Cohort study aims to recruit 300 participants Australia who regularly (at least a few times per week for the past 6 months) use OTC codeine. Participants will be followed up at three time points over a 12 month period following the rescheduling.
Results:
Information on demographics, codeine use and dependence, physical and mental health, medication use and health service use will be collected and analysed using mixed models. The first three rounds of data collection for the Codeine Cohort study are complete and data collection for the final time point is underway and will to be completed by August 2019.
Conclusions:
The Codeine Cohort study will provide insight into outcomes (positive and negative) associated with codeine rescheduling for individual patients, which informs further community education and intervention. This study will give a broader understanding of the effectiveness of regulatory restriction as addressing non-medical use and harms with codeine. Clinical Trial: Not Applicable
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Copyright
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