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Addiction
Protocol
Misuse of medication in adult substance misuse services: a systematic review protocol
  1. Rosalind Gittins1,2,
  2. Louise Missen3,
  3. Ian Maidment2
  1. 1Clinical Department, Humankind, Durham, UK
  2. 2Aston Pharmacy School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
  3. 3Gilead Sciences, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ian Maidment; i.maidment{at}aston.ac.uk

Abstract

Introduction There is a growing concern about the misuse of over the counter (OTC) and prescription only medication (POM) because of the impact on physical and mental health, drug interactions, overdoses and drug-related deaths. These medicines include opioid analgesics, anxiolytics such as pregabalin and diazepam and antidepressants. This protocol outlines how a systematic review will be undertaken (during June 2021), which aims to examine the literature on the pattern of OTC and POM misuse among adults who are accessing substance misuse treatment services. It will include the types of medication being taken, prevalence and demographic characteristics of people who access treatment services.

Methods and analysis An electronic search will be conducted on the Cochrane, OVID Medline, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science databases as well as grey literature. Two independent reviewers will conduct the initial title and abstract screenings, using predetermined criteria for inclusion and exclusion. If selected for inclusion, full-text data extraction will be conducted using a pilot-tested data extraction form. A third reviewer will resolve disagreements if consensus cannot be reached. Quality and risk of bias assessment will be conducted for all included studies. A qualitative synthesis and summary of the data will be provided. If possible, a meta-analysis with heterogeneity calculation will be conducted; otherwise, Synthesis Without Meta-analysis will be undertaken for quantitative data. The reporting of this protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required. Findings will be peer reviewed, published and shared verbally, electronically and in print, with interested clinicians and policymakers.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42020135216.

  • substance misuse
  • public health
  • mental health
  • psychiatry
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047283

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @Roz_Gittins, @maidment_dr

    • Contributors RG conceived the paper and led on writing the initial draft, designed the study, development of data extraction forms, search strategy, critical revision and final review of the manuscript. LM contributed to the manuscript writing, critical revision and final review of the manuscript. IM contributed to the manuscript writing, critical revision and final review of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

    • Funding This work presents research funded jointly by the College of Mental Health Pharmacy (CMHP) and Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK-CMHP reference number: PRUK_CMHP-2019-2-RG). The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and not necessarily that of the CMHP or PRUK.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Author note LM became involved in this work prior to commencing employment at Gilead Sciences, who have no input or involvement in this work.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.