Report on the Review of Sales Transactions for Oxycodone-based Products in Atlantic Canada (Retail Pharmacies only)

2. Limits to the Interpretation

Readers who wish to interpret, extrapolate or benchmark the report's findings should exercise caution. The report does not take into consideration the following variances: the variance of health profiles of populations, the variance within Pain Management Protocols, and the variance between official monographs of various products. This limits the interpretation of findings, as follows:

• The variance of health profiles of populations may have an impact on the interpretation of findings because this factor could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of volume of transactions, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.
  
  
• The variance within Pain Management Protocols limits the interpretation of the findings because it may influence the prescribing of one medication over another, which could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of volume of transactions, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.
  
  
• The variance between official monographs of various products limits the interpretation of the findings because management of the same medical condition with different oxycodone-based products will not require the same amount of tablets to achieve similar results. An example is short-acting versus long-lasting tablet formulations. This could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of quantity of products, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.