Using electronic health care data to understand patterns of opioid prescribing and use in primary care settings

In the recent decades, there has been a rise in the use of prescription opioids, leading to increased rates of opioid-related harms and deaths in Australia and worldwide. This doctoral thesis aimed to understand the patterns of prescription opioid use in Australian primary care. Through analysing electronic health databases, this research demonstrated that factors such as age, socioeconomic status and other health conditions influence prescription opioid use, and highlighted important knowledge gaps about how to safely reduce opioid doses. These findings can inform the safe and effective use of opioids in primary care settings, and help to reduce harms and enhance patient outcomes.