News

Informing Canada’s Response to the Opioid Crisis — An Update from CADTH

Delivering on our commitment to provide evidence and resources that support Canada’s response to the opioid crisis continues to be a key priority for CADTH.

Over the summer we’ve answered a range of research questions related to the treatment of opioid use disorder and the use of drug and non-drug interventions to manage pain. All of our reports are centralized in two online evidence bundles that are freely available and updated often, as new reports are completed.

  • Opioid Evidence Bundle (cadth.ca/opioids)
  • Pain Evidence Bundle (cadth.ca/pain)

What’s New in the Evidence Bundles?

Opioid Evidence Bundle

Several new reports cover the comparative effectiveness of drugs used in maintenance therapy, also known as medication-assisted treatment, for opioid use disorder. These drugs include naltrexone and buprenorphine, among others.

We also examined Vivitrol, an injectable, extended-release form of naltrexone that is not yet approved in Canada, but may be imported by certain jurisdictions through new rules announced by Health Canada in June 2017.

New Rapid Response Reports
Summary with Critical Appraisal Concurrent Treatment for Substance Use Disorder and Trauma-Related Comorbidities: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines August 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Buprenorphine Formulations for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders: A Review of Comparative Clinical Effectiveness, Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines July 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Naltrexone for Opioid Use Disorders: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness, Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines July 2017
Summary of Abstracts Drug Testing for Patients with Substance Use Disorder: Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines June 2017
New Issues in Emerging Health Technologies
  Injectable Extended-Release Naltrexone to Treat Opioid Use Disorder August 2017

Pain Evidence Bundle

As the overprescribing of opioids for pain continues to be an issue, more questions are being raised about non-drug treatment options and the evidence base supporting them.

We’ve examined the evidence for a range of treatments including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, exercise, manual therapy, and other multidisciplinary treatments.

New Rapid Response Reports
Summary with Critical Appraisal Exercise for the Management of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness August 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Manual Therapy for the Recent-Onset on Persistent Neck Pain: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines August 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Occupational Therapy for Chronic Pain Management Using the Biopsychosocial Approach: A Review of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines August 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Manual Therapy for Recent-Onset or Persistent Non-Specific Lower Back Pain: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines August 2017
Summary with Critical Appraisal Physiotherapy Interventions for the Management of Neck and/or Back Pain: A Review of Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness June 2017
Summary of Abstracts Physiotherapy Interventions for the Management of Neck or Back Pain: Cost-Effectiveness August 2017
Summary of Abstracts Exercise for the Management of Back Pain: Clinical Effectiveness August 2017
Summary of Abstracts Exercise for the Management of Neck Pain: Clinical Effectiveness July 2017
Summary of Abstracts Exercise for the Management of Fibromyalgia: Clinical Effectiveness July 2017
Summary of Abstracts Occupational Therapy Interventions to Prevent Opioid Relapse: Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines July 2017
Summary of Abstracts Physiotherapy Interventions for the Management of Neck and/or Back Pain: A Review of Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness June 2017

In addition to the reports above, several reference lists on various topics were completed and can be found in the evidence bundles.

Coming Soon

Preliminary work is now under way for an Environmental Scan on the availability and accessibility of non-pharmacological treatment for pain in Canada.

We’re also collaborating with the CIHR-SPOR Canadian Chronic Pain Network on their update of the 2007 STOP-PAIN study. Results of the study will be used to create a searchable directory of multidisciplinary pain treatment facilities, help establish clinical priorities, and help improve the allocation of resources for this patient population. Questions about this study can be sent to the Registry Working Group coordinator.

Learn More

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And if you have questions, contact us at [email protected]