Table 2.
Characteristics of adults newly initiated on long-term opioid therapy, by mean baseline daily dosage and cluster, 2018 to 2019.
| Individual characteristic | Mean baseline daily dosage, N (%) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <50 MME | 50–89 MME | 90–149 MME | ≥150 MME | ||||||
| Cluster A1 n = 5949 59.5% | Cluster A2 n = 4051 40.5% | Cluster B1 n = 3793 37.9% | Cluster B2 n = 6207 62.1% | Cluster C1 n = 3809 38.1% | Cluster C2 n = 6191 61.9% | Cluster D1 n = 3467 34.7% | Cluster D2 n = 4486 44.9% | Cluster D3 n = 2047 20.5% | |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 2444 (41.1%) | 1782 (44.0%) | 1770 (46.7%) | 2740 (44.1%) | 1796 (47.2%) | 2932 (47.4%) | 1777 (51.3%) | 2190 (48.8%) | 1074 (52.5%) |
| Female | 3482 (58.5%) | 2261 (55.8%) | 2008 (52.9%) | 3453 (55.6%) | 1996 (52.4%) | 3234 (52.2%) | 1666 (48.1%) | 2277 (50.8%) | 967 (47.2%) |
| Age group (y) | |||||||||
| 18–35 | 484 (8.1%) | 281 (6.9%) | 378 (10.0%) | 384 (6.2%) | 382 (10.0%) | 388 (6.3%) | 324 (9.3%) | 286 (6.4%) | 99 (4.8%) |
| 36–65 | 3374 (56.7%) | 2825 (69.7%) | 2556 (67.4%) | 4354 (70.1%) | 2699 (70.9%) | 4519 (73.0%) | 2481 (71.6%) | 3345 (74.6%) | 1620 (79.1%) |
| ≥66 | 2091 (35.1%) | 945 (23.3%) | 859 (22.6%) | 1469 (23.7%) | 728 (19.1%) | 1284 (20.7%) | 662 (19.1%) | 855 (19.1%) | 328 (16.0%) |
| Urban/rural classification | |||||||||
| Metropolitan | 4999 (84.0%) | 3375 (83.3%) | 3293 (86.8%) | 5334 (85.9%) | 3381 (88.8%) | 5463 (88.2%) | 3122 (90.0%) | 4043 (90.1%) | 1865 (91.1%) |
| Micropolitan | 558 (9.4%) | 428 (10.6%) | 325 (8.6%) | 613 (9.9%) | 288 (7.6%) | 497 (8.0%) | 229 (6.6%) | 298 (6.6%) | 116 (5.7%) |
| Noncore | 392 (6.6%) | 248 (6.1%) | 175 (4.6%) | 260 (4.2%) | 140 (3.7%) | 231 (3.7%) | 116 (3.3%) | 145 (3.2%) | 66 (3.2%) |
| Payer* | |||||||||
| Medicare | 2295 (38.6%) | 1606 (39.6%) | 1364 (36.0%) | 2651 (42.7%) | 1412 (37.1%) | 2709 (43.8%) | 1195 (34.5%) | 1920 (42.8%) | 924 (45.1%) |
| Medicaid | 903 (15.2%) | 661 (16.3%) | 572 (15.1%) | 841 (13.5%) | 514 (13.5%) | 712 (11.5%) | 362 (10.4%) | 463 (10.3%) | 213 (10.4%) |
| Assistance | 355 (6.0%) | 242 (6.0%) | 302 (8.0%) | 350 (5.6%) | 271 (7.1%) | 355 (5.7%) | 252 (7.3%) | 239 (5.3%) | 96 (4.7%) |
| Private | 1515 (25.5%) | 1003 (24.8%) | 959 (25.3%) | 1577 (25.4%) | 932 (24.5%) | 1535 (24.8%) | 816 (23.5%) | 1094 (24.4%) | 476 (23.3%) |
| Self-pay | 319 (5.4%) | 165 (4.1%) | 228 (6.0%) | 246 (4.0%) | 316 (8.3%) | 346 (5.6%) | 451 (13.0%) | 371 (8.3%) | 152 (7.4%) |
| Unknown | 450 (7.6%) | 339 (8.4%) | 310 (8.2%) | 493 (7.9%) | 314 (8.2%) | 493 (8.0%) | 343 (9.9%) | 375 (8.4%) | 173 (8.5%) |
| Prescriber specialty† | |||||||||
| Primary care | 2810 (47.2%) | 1581 (39.0%) | 1280 (33.7%) | 1935 (31.2%) | 1283 (33.7%) | 1892 (30.6%) | 1308 (37.7%) | 1561 (34.8%) | 808 (39.5%) |
| Advanced practitioner | 1247 (21.0%) | 988 (24.4%) | 954 (25.2%) | 1772 (28.5%) | 918 (24.1%) | 1706 (27.6%) | 598 (17.2%) | 992 (22.1%) | 317 (15.5%) |
| Pain medicine | 799 (13.4%) | 847 (20.9%) | 864 (22.8%) | 1501 (24.2%) | 947 (24.9%) | 1553 (25.1%) | 862 (24.9%) | 1094 (24.4%) | 537 (26.2%) |
Boldface text indicates statistical significance (P < 0.05) between clusters for each baseline dosage category.
Data source: IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription (LRx) retail pharmacy database, 2018 to 2019.
*
For detailed descriptions of payer categories, see Appendix B, available as supplemental digital content at http://links.lww.com/PAIN/B882.
†
Only the top 3 most frequent prescriber specialties are reported. “Advanced practitioner” includes nurse practitioner and physician assistant. “Primary care” includes internal medicine, family medicine, and preventative medicine.
MME, oral morphine milligram equivalent.