ArticleBMC methods2026
A methodological framework for constructing opioid agonist therapy episodes in administrative health data.
Article in BMC methods, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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11 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) is the most effective intervention to reduce overdose risk, and administrative health data are now increasingly used to study OAT outcomes. However, current methods for constructing OAT episodes rely heavily on fixed permissible gaps and often overlook switches between medications, concurrent therapies, and the temporal complexity of dispensing patterns. We aimed to develop a robust episode-construction framework that more precisely reflects real-world OAT use within administrative health data. Methods: We analyzed OAT dispensations from people living with HIV in British Columbia (2010-2020). Episodes were constructed using three components: Allen's interval algebra, temporal margins ([Formula: see text]), and drug-specific permissible gaps. Allen's algebra characterized the temporal relation between two dispensations as Results: The Conclusion: We propose an episode-building framework based on Allen's relations, temporal margins, and permissible gaps that fine-tune OAT classification in administrative health data. The method is transferable to other settings and populations with suitable parameter adjustments. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44330-026-00064-9.
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