People Dispensed One or More Strong Opioid Medicines in a Year

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Primary Care
Country
New Zealand
Publishing Organisation
Health Quality & Safety Commission
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Safety
Domain
Medications and Medication Management

Defining Attributes

Definition

This indicator shows the number and rate per 1,000 of people who had a community pharmacy dispensing of a strong opioid by year, by ethnic group, age group and gender.

Numerator

Number of people dispensed a strong opioid: morphine, fentanyl, methadone (excluding those using for substance abuse), oxycodone and pethidine

Denominator

Stats NZ resident population

Exclusions

Opioid substitution treatment was excluded by identifying people who had methadone dispensed every one, two or three days. People who met this criteria were excluded from further analysis. This method may incorrectly exclude people who had this pattern of dispensing for a different reason, however, a comparison between the number of people registered with the Ministry of Health as receiving opioid substitution treatment and the number of people excluded suggests this method is sufficiently accurate

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

By year: 2011-2019, Ethnicity: Māori, Pacific peoples, Asian, European/Other Age (years): 0–24, 25-64, 65–79 and 80+, Sex: F, M

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Pharmaceutical Collection, Stats NZ population projections

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
Yes
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025