Table 3.
Characteristics of all surgeons who prescribed opioids in 2019, high-volume surgeons, other surgeons, and all surgeons in the OneKey database
| All prescribers | High-volume surgeons |
Other surgeons | All surgeons in the OneKey databasea |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N=114,610 | N=5,753 | N=108,857 | N=158,730 | |
| Age | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) |
| 20-29 | 5,117 (4.5) | 0 (0.0) | 5,117 (4.7) | 7,016 (4.4) |
| 30-39 | 28,015 (24.4) | 736 (12.8) | 27,279 (25.1) | 35,071 (22.1) |
| 40-49 | 24,982 (21.8) | 1,778 (30.9) | 23,204 (21.3) | 31,231 (19.7) |
| 50-59 | 24,025 (21.0) | 1,784 (31.0) | 22,241 (20.4) | 30,468 (19.2) |
| 60-69 | 18,790 (16.4) | 1,028 (17.9) | 17,762 (16.3) | 28,618 (18.0) |
| >=70 | 7,751 (6.8) | 281 (4.9) | 7,470 (6.9) | 24,159 (15.2) |
| Unknown | 5,930 (5.2) | 146 (2.5) | 5,784 (5.3) | 2,167 (1.4) |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 20,441 (17.8) | 137 (2.4) | 20,304 (18.7) | 29,094 (18.3) |
| Male | 93,984 (82.0) | 5,611 (97.5) | 88,373 (81.2) | 129,630 (81.7) |
| Unknown | 185 (0.2) | 5 (0.1) | 180 (0.2) | 6 (0.0) |
| Surgical specialty | ||||
| Cardiothoracic | 214 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 214 (0.2) | 317 (0.2) |
| Colorectal Surgery | 1,757 (1.5) | 12 (0.2) | 1,745 (1.6) | 2,056 (1.3) |
| General Surgery | 29,746 (26.0) | 460 (8.0) | 29,286 (26.9) | 41,580 (26.2) |
| Hand Surgery | 2,407 (2.1) | 334 (5.8) | 2,073 (1.9) | 2,780 (1.8) |
| Neurosurgery | 5,900 (5.1) | 274 (4.8) | 5,626 (5.2) | 8,091 (5.1) |
| Ophthalmology | 10,441 (9.1) | 24 (0.4) | 10,417 (9.6) | 23,315 (14.7) |
| Orthopedics | 27,088 (23.6) | 4,254 (73.9) | 22,834 (21.0) | 32,476 (20.5) |
| Otolaryngology | 10,431 (9.1) | 48 (0.8) | 10,383 (9.5) | 13,095 (8.2) |
| Pediatric Surgery | 1,771 (1.5) | 4 (0.1) | 1,767 (1.6) | 2,736 (1.7) |
| Plastic Surgery | 7,694 (6.7) | 171 (3.0) | 7,523 (6.9) | 9,305 (5.9) |
| Thoracic Surgery | 2,941 (2.6) | 13 (0.2) | 2,928 (2.7) | 5,227 (3.3) |
| Transplant Surgery | 293 (0.3) | 1 (0.0) | 292 (0.3) | 477 (0.3) |
| Urology | 10,506 (9.2) | 143 (2.5) | 10,363 (9.5) | 12,846 (8.1) |
| Vascular Surgery | 3,421 (3.0) | 15 (0.3) | 3,406 (3.1) | 4,429 (2.8) |
| Urban/Rural location | ||||
| Urban | 112,690 (98.3) | 5,625 (97.8) | 107,065 (98.4) | 156,032 (98.3) |
| Not urban | 1,783 (1.6) | 127 (2.2) | 1,656 (1.5) | 2,558 (1.6) |
| Unknown | 137 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | 136 (0.1) | 140 (0.1) |
| Region of practice | ||||
| Northeast | 22,855 (19.9) | 383 (6.7) | 22,472 (20.6) | 33,834 (21.3) |
| Midwest | 25,735 (22.5) | 1,166 (20.3) | 24,569 (22.6) | 33,745 (21.3) |
| South | 42,655 (37.2) | 3,486 (60.6) | 39,169 (36.0) | 55,539 (35.0) |
| West | 23,365 (20.4) | 718 (12.5) | 22,647 (20.8) | 35,612 (22.4) |
| Practice size | ||||
| 1 | 7,209 (6.3) | 363 (6.3) | 6,846 (6.3) | 9,620 (6.1) |
| 2-5 | 5,649 (4.9) | 357 (6.2) | 5,292 (4.9) | 24,476 (15.4) |
| 6-9 | 27,012 (23.6) | 1,540 (26.8) | 25,472 (23.4) | 14,762 (9.3) |
| 10-19 | 13,989 (12.2) | 1,187 (20.6) | 12,802 (11.8) | 16,531 (10.4) |
| 20-50 | 11,122 (9.7) | 1,158 (20.1) | 9,964 (9.2) | 13,591 (8.6) |
| 51-99 | 5,004 (4.4) | 363 (6.3) | 4,641 (4.3) | 6,500 (4.1) |
| >=100 | 31,068 (27.1) | 522 (9.1) | 30,546 (28.1) | 52,088 (32.8) |
| Unknown | 13,557 (11.8) | 263 (4.6) | 13,294 (12.2) | 21,162 (13.3) |
| Academic affiliation | 43,652 (38.1) | 1,168 (20.3) | 42,484 (39.0) | 64,127 (40.4) |
| Health system affiliation | 49,421 (43.1) | 1,437 (25.0) | 47,984 (44.1) | 70,387 (44.3) |
a
This column includes all surgeons in the OneKey database, regardless of whether they could be linked to a dispensed opioid prescription in the 2019 IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database. The column is provided for contextual purposes and for readers who may be interested in the characteristics of the U.S. surgeon workforce.