Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 1;75(3):298-300.
doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.4432.

Rapid Change in Fentanyl Prevalence in a Community-Based, High-Risk Sample

Andrea A Jones  1 , Kerry Jang  1 , William J Panenka  1 , Alasdair M Barr  2 , G William MacEwan  1 , Allen E Thornton  3 , William G Honer  1
Affiliations

Rapid Change in Fentanyl Prevalence in a Community-Based, High-Risk Sample

Andrea A Jones et al. JAMA Psychiatry. .

Abstract

This prospective longitudinal analysis of people living in an impoverished neighborhood finds that fentanyl-positive urine samples increased rapidly during a 5-month period while opiate-positive samples declined.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Honer reports personal fees from Lundbeck and Otsuka, AlphaSights, and Eli Lilly, all outside the submitted work. No other disclosures are reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Community-Based Studies of Fentanyl From March 1 to July 31, 2017
The British Columbia Coroner’s Office reports of overdose deaths in Vancouver and overdose calls to first responders (police and fire department) for Vancouver and for the neighborhood from which participants were recruited (A). Numbers of urine samples with fentanyl detected are shown for participants using nonprescribed opioids and for those taking prescribed opioid agonist therapy (B). The probability of urine samples being positive for fentanyl (C) or opiates (heroin, morphine, or codeine) (D) changed during a 5-month period and differed according to reported use of nonprescribed opioids in the week before urinalysis. Samples were tested for fentanyl/norfentanyl (sensitivity 10 ng/mL, with cross-reactivity for acetylfentanyl, butyrylfentanyl, carfentanil, fluorofentanyl, 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, furanylfentanyl, 3-methylfentanyl, sufentanil, and thiofentanyl) and for opiates (heroin, morphine, and codeine). Shading represents the 95% confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dowell D, Noonan RK, Houry D. Underlying factors in drug overdose deaths. JAMA. 2017. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Frank RG, Pollack HA. Addressing the fentanyl threat to public health. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(7):605-607. - PubMed
    1. Arfken CL, Suchanek J, Greenwald MK. Characterizing fentanyl use in methadone-maintained clients. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2017;75:17-21. - PubMed
    1. Amlani A, McKee G, Khamis N, Raghukumar G, Tsang E, Buxton JA. Why the FUSS (Fentanyl Urine Screen Study)? a cross-sectional survey to characterize an emerging threat to people who use drugs in British Columbia, Canada. Harm Reduct J. 2015;12:54. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Honer WG, Cervantes-Larios A, Jones AA, et al. . The Hotel Study: clinical and health service effectiveness in a cohort of homeless or marginally housed persons. Can J Psychiatry. 2017;62(7):482-492. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types