Course description
Opioids are often prescribed early for low back pain, despite guideline recommendations advocating against this practice. Low back pain is a leading cause of work disability in North America and the use of opioids among injured workers in North America has been a significant source of concern among workers’ compensation organizations for more than a decade. Whether opioids provided early in the course of a low back pain injury influence work-related outcomes is an important treatment consideration, particularly given trends toward a high prevalence of use.
You will learn:
- The findings of previous research examining use of opioids in the early stages of a work-related low back pain injury and work-related outcomes
- An overview of findings from a new study comparing early use of opioids for work-related low back injuries to NSAIDs and muscle relaxants on work disability
- Limitations of current research in this area and implications for research, policy and practice
Dr. Nancy Carnide has a PhD in Epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is a previous recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and a CIHR Strategic Training Fellowship in Work Disability Prevention. Dr. Carnide's research interests lie at the intersection between occupational health and safety and substance use, as well as the mental health of working populations. Her emerging program of research includes examining the use and non-medical use of prescription and recreational drugs among workers, their risk factors, and the workplace consequences of their use. Dr. Carnide's most recent research focuses on the impact of cannabis legalization on the Canadian working population. She is co-leading two studies related to workplace cannabis use and related perceptions and knowledge among Canadian workers, as well as cannabis involvement in workplace fatalities in Ontario.
This program is pre-approved by VRA Canada for a 1 hour training session