Windsor, Chatham and Sarnia have the highest use of prescription opioids in the province, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report from Health Quality Ontario looked at prescription data from all local health integration networks and revealed 18 in 100 people within the Erie St. Clair LHIN filled at least one opioid prescription in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

"We believe that the Erie St. Clair region has seen a rise in opioid use due to several factors, some of which we are acutely aware and others that are still being uncovered," wrote Dawn Maziak, health systems design manager with the LHIN, in an emailed statement.

She added the LHIN had just received the report and is working to better understand its findings, but said pain management is a "significant contributing factor" to opioid use in the area.

"We know that people in our region, both providers and patients, are challenged with finding ways to manage pain from chronic health conditions," she said. "For Erie St. Clair residents aged 65-plus, more than one-half have two or more chronic conditions."

The Erie St. Clair LHIN has a "multi-pronged approach" to take on opioid addiction that includes expanding community addiction services and working with other communities and partners, according to Maziak.

Dr. Amit Bagga, current president of the Essex County Medical Society, described the study as "useful," but noted it's provides a wide overview that can easily be misunderstood.

"We have to take a balanced approach to it," he said. "We don't want to take an impulsive, sensational approach to it saying 'Windsor is bad, other areas are good.'"

Health minister calls data 'helpful'

The study showed the North East LHIN was not far behind the Erie area, with 17 in 100 people filling an opioid prescription, while Toronto Central had the fewest at 11 per 100 people, according to the Nine Million Prescriptions report.

The study pulled the number of prescriptions for opioids — including morphine, codeine, fentanyl patches, oxycodone and hydromorphone — from the province's Narcotics Monitoring System, a database that tracks opiates dispensed at Ontario pharmacies.

It comes just a week after the Canadian Medical Association Journal published new guidelines for opioid prescription, an attempt, its authors said, to try to deal with the opioid crisis across the country.

In 2015, at least 551 people died from opioid overdose in Ontario, an increase from from 421 in 2010. It's unclear how many of those overdoses came as a result of illegal drug use or the recreational use of prescription drugs.

Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins said in a statement on Wednesday that the report's findings would be "helpful to our government as we continue to strengthen our response to the opioid crisis."

The minister also outlined steps already being taken by his government, including reaching out to doctors, nurses and regulatory colleges for health professions that dispense opioids, to ensure they are familiar with the updated Canadian Guideline for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain.

Hoskins added he plans to meet with a group Ontario mayors on June 12 as part of a larger consultation process to address the opioid crisis.