Rebecca Silvia Mcdonald

Researcher - Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research

Norwegian version of this page

Email r.s.mcdonald@medisin.uio.no

Username

Visiting address Kirkeveien 166 Bygg 45 0450 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1039 Blindern 0315 Oslo

Download business card

Academic interests

Opioid maintenance treatment
Overdose prevention with take-home naloxone
Benzodiazepine dependence
Implementation and evaluation research
Global public health
User involvement

Teaching/Courses taught

Guest lecturer, MSc Drug Development Science, King's College London

Background

The aim of my research is to study strategies for the prevention of opioid-related morbidity and mortality, with current focus on the evaluation of treatment guidelines for people with opioid use disorder. I am a behavioral psychologist by training and interested in harm reduction and drug development.

Appointments

My previous work includes appointments at King's College London (2013-21) as well as consultancies for the NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene (2018-9) and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (2016-7).

Collaborations

Collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health for the evaluation of the treatment guidelines
University of Edinburgh

Welle-Strand, Gabrielle Katrine; Pierron, Marianne; Olsen, Ida Kristine; Bjørnestad, Ronny & Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia (2024). “Life feels better with the right medication”. Results from a service user organization-led survey of opioid maintenance treatment patients in Norway. Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems. ISSN 1592-1638. 26(1). doi: 10.62401/2531-4122-2024-19.
Metrebian, Nicola; Carter, Ben; Eide, Desiree; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Neale, Joanne & Parkin, Stephen [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2023). A study protocol for a European, mixed methods, prospective, cohort study of the effectiveness of naloxone administration by community members, in reversing opioid overdose: NalPORS. BMC Public Health. ISSN 1471-2458. 23(1). doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16445-6. Full text in Research Archive
Carver, Hannah; Ciolompea, Teodora; Conway, Anna; Kilian, Carolin; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia & Meksi, Andia [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Substance use disorders and COVID-19: reflections on international research and practice changes during the “poly-crisis”. Frontiers in Public Health. ISSN 2296-2565. 11. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1201967. Full text in Research Archive
Eide, Desiree; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Hamina, Aleksi; Clausen, Thomas; Odsbu, Ingvild & Skurtveit, Svetlana Ondrasova (2023). Prescription high-risk polysubstance use among opioid maintenance treatment patients. International journal of drug policy. ISSN 0955-3959. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104196. Full text in Research Archive
Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Bech, Anne Berit & Clausen, Thomas (2023). Flexible delivery of opioid agonist treatment during COVID-19 in Norway: qualitative and quantitative findings from an online survey of provider experiences. BMC Health Services Research. ISSN 1472-6963. 23(1). doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09959-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Background For patients receiving daily opioid agonist treatment (OAT) for opioid dependence, several countries relaxed treatment guidelines at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This involved longer take-home intervals for methadone and buprenorphine doses as well as a reduction in supervised dosing and drug screening. To date, little is known about the medium or long-term experience of OAT deregulation. Therefore, we conducted a survey to explore how OAT providers perceived greater flexibility in OAT service delivery at the end of the second year of the pandemic. Methods Nationwide cross-sectional study of twenty-three OAT units in 19 publicly funded hospital trusts in Norway. OAT units were sent a 29-item online questionnaire comprising closed-format and open-ended questions on treatment provider experiences and changes in OAT service delivery during the past 12 months (January to December 2021). Results Twenty-three (of whom female: 14; 60.8%) managers or lead physicians of OAT units completed the questionnaire reporting that, in 2021, most OAT units (91.3%, n = 21) still practiced some adjusted approaches as established in the beginning of the pandemic. The most common adaptions were special protocols for COVID-19 cases (95.7%, n = 22), increased use of telephone- (91.3%, n = 21) and video consultations (87.0%, n = 20), and longer take-home intervals for OAT medications (52.2%, n = 12). The use of depot buprenorphine also increased substantially during the pandemic. According to the OAT providers, most patients handled flexible treatment provision well. In individual cases, patients’ substance use was identified as key factor necessitating a reintroduction of supervised dosing and drug screening. Collaboration with general practitioners and municipal health and social services was generally perceived as crucial for successful treatment delivery. Conclusions Overall, the Norwegian OAT system proved resilient in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as its healthcare workforce embraced innovation in technology (telemedicine) and drug development (depot buprenorphine). According to our nationally representative sample of OAT providers, most patients were compliant with longer take-home doses of methadone and buprenorphine. Our findings suggest that telemedicine can be useful as adjunct to face-to-face treatment and provide greater flexibility for patients.
Ebrahimian, Melika; Zamani, Nasim; Dolat Abadi, Sahel Shafiee; Gheisari, Mehdi; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia & Hassanian-Moghaddam, Hossein (2023). Dermatologic features of chronic intramuscular use of ketamine: a case report. Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology. ISSN 1547-769X. 19(1), p. 129–132. doi: 10.1007/s12024-023-00580-y.
Rafizadeh, Ali; Bhalla, Ashish; Sharma, Neha; Kumar, Kuldeep; Zamani, Nasim & Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Evaluating new simplified assays for harm reduction from methanol poisoning using chromotropic acid kits: An analytical study on Indian and Iranian alcoholic beverages. Frontiers in Public Health. ISSN 2296-2565. 10. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.983663. Full text in Research Archive
Hadeiy, Seyed Kaveh; Zamani, Nasim; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Rezaei, Omidvar; Kolahi, Ali-Asghar & Gholami, Narges [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). An interrupted time series analysis of hospital admissions due to alcohol intoxication during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Tehran, Iran. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 12(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14799-2. Full text in Research Archive
Mahdavi, Seyed Amirhosein; Zamani, Nasim; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Akhgari, Maryam; Kolahi, Ali-Asghar & Gheshlaghi, Farzad [Show all 30 contributors for this article] (2022). A cross-sectional multicenter linkage study of hospital admissions and mortality due to methanol poisoning in Iranian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 12(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14007-1. Full text in Research Archive
Hadeiy, Seyed Kaveh; Gholami, Narges; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Rezaei, Omidvar; Kolahi, Ali-Asghar & Zamani, Nasim [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2022). Hospital-treated intentional self-poisoning events and in-hospital mortality in Tehran before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Psychology. ISSN 1046-1310. doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03248-y.
Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Eide, Desiree; Abel-Ollo, Katri; Barnsdale, Lee; Carter, Ben & Clausen, Thomas [Show all 24 contributors for this article] (2022). A rapid assessment of take-home naloxone provision during COVID-19 in Europe. International journal of drug policy. ISSN 0955-3959. 107. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103787. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in Cristin

Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia (2024). Prescription High-Risk Polysubstance Use Among OST Patients and Implications for Clinical Practice.
Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Eide, Desiree; Skurtveit, Svetlana Ondrasova & Clausen, Thomas (2024). Pills and the damage done: the opioid epidemic as man-made crisis. Frontiers in Public Health. ISSN 2296-2565. 11. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1241404.
Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia (2023). Differences between individuals dying of intentional versus accidental overdoses: A population-based register study.
Nesse, Linda; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Bech, Anne Berit & Clausen, Thomas (2023). Medborgerskap: Et perspektiv for brukermedvirkning i LAR. Rus & samfunn. ISSN 1500-8614.
Bech, Anne Berit; Clausen, Thomas & Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia (2022). Revised service delivery of opioid agonist treatment in Norway in 2021, the second year of the pandemic: a national cross-sectional study of treatment provider experiences.
Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia & Clausen, Thomas (2022). Revised service delivery of opioid agonist treatment in Norway in 2021, the second year of the pandemic: a national cross-sectional study of treatment provider experiences.
Gholami, Narges; Mcdonald, Rebecca Silvia; Zamani, Nasim & Hassanian-Moghaddam, Hossein (2022). Comment on: predictors of severe outcome following opioid intoxication in children. Clinical Toxicology. ISSN 1556-3650. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2022.2075375.