2015/03/16 by Shane R. Mueller, Alexander Y. Walley, Susan L. Calcaterra +2 · 153 citations
Medicine · #(+)-Naloxone #Drug #Drug overdose #HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk #Heroin #Medical emergency #Medicine #Naloxone Hydrochloride #Opioid #Opioid Use Disorder Treatment #Opioid antagonist #Opioid overdose #Opioid use disorder #Poison control #Psychiatry #Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
paper · open access · doi:10.1080/08897077.2015.1010032
published in Substance Abuse 36(2), 240-253 (SAGE Publications)
openalex publication_date 2015/03/16 · crossref created 2015/03/16 · crossref issued 2015/04/01 · crossref published 2015/04/01 · crossref published-online 2015/04/01 · crossref published-print 2015/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/08/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Background As physicians have increased opioid prescribing, overdose deaths from pharmaceutical opioids have substantially increased in the United States. Naloxone hydrochloride (naloxone), an opioid antagonist, is the standard of care for treatment of opioid induced respiratory depression. Since 1996, community-based programs have offered overdose prevention education and distributed naloxone for bystander administration to people who use opioids, particularly heroin. There is growing interest in translating overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) into conventional medical settings for patients who are prescribed pharmaceutical opioids. For this review, we summarized and classified existing publications on overdose education and naloxone distribution to identify evidence of effectiveness and opportunities for translation into conventional medical settings. Methods For this review, we searched English language PubMed for articles on naloxone based on primary data collection from humans, including feasibility studies, program evaluations, surveys, qualitative studies, and studies comparing the effectiveness of different routes of naloxone administration. We also included cost-effectiveness studies. Results We identified 41 articles that represented 5 categories: evaluations of OEND programs, effects of OEND programs on experiences and attitudes of participants, willingness of medical providers to prescribe naloxone, comparisons of different routes of naloxone administration, and the cost-effectiveness of naloxone. Conclusions Existing research suggests that people who are at risk for overdose and other bystanders are willing and able to be trained to prevent overdoses and administer naloxone. Counseling patients about the risks of opioid overdose and prescribing naloxone is an emerging clinical practice that may reduce fatalities from overdose while enhancing the safe prescribing of opioids.