Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population and overall changes in 4 outcome variables from January 2016 to December 2020 (N=45,582).
| Characteristics | Total (60 months; N=45,582) | Pre-NIMSa (28 months; January 2016-April 2018; n=24,924) | Post-NIMS Pre–COVID-19 (21 months; May 2018-January 2020; n=15,642) | Post–COVID-19 (11 months; February 2020-December 2020; n=5016) | ||||||||
| Sex, n (%) | ||||||||||||
|
|
Male | 17,826 (39.1) | 9591 (38.5) | 6125 (39.2) | 2110 (42.1) | |||||||
|
|
Female | 27,756 (60.9) | 15,333 (61.5) | 9517 (60.8) | 2906 (57.9) | |||||||
| Age group (years), n (%) | ||||||||||||
|
|
20-39 | 5706 (12.5) | 3236 (13) | 1951 (12.5) | 519 (10.3) | |||||||
|
|
40-59 | 15,079 (33.1) | 8401 (33.7) | 5148 (32.9) | 1530 (30.5) | |||||||
|
|
60-74 | 15,752 (34.6) | 8518 (34.2) | 5397 (34.5) | 1837 (36.6) | |||||||
|
|
≥75 | 9045 (19.8) | 4769 (19.1) | 3146 (20.1) | 1130 (22.5) | |||||||
| Insurance type, n (%) | ||||||||||||
|
|
NHIb | 41,452 (90.9) | 22,735 (91.2) | 14,240 (91) | 4477 (89.3) | |||||||
|
|
MedAidc or PVId | 4130 (9.1) | 2189 (8.8) | 1402 (9) | 539 (10.7) | |||||||
| Morbidity, n (%) | ||||||||||||
|
|
Arthropathies | 11,902 (26.1) | 6533 (26.2) | 4092 (26.2) | 1277 (25.5) | |||||||
|
|
Dorsopathies | 21,234 (46.6) | 11,588 (46.5) | 7283 (46.6) | 2363 (47.1) | |||||||
|
|
Soft tissue disorders | 11,908 (26.1) | 6534 (26.2) | 4086 (26.1) | 1288 (25.7) | |||||||
|
|
Otherse | 538 (1.2) | 269 (1.1) | 181 (1.2) | 88 (1.8) | |||||||
| Outcome variables, mean (SD) | ||||||||||||
|
|
Proportion of patients on high-dose opioid treatment | N/Af | 0.75 (0.22) | 1.25 (0.27) | 1.89 (0.30) | |||||||
|
|
Proportion of patients receiving opioid prescriptions from multiple providers | N/A | 0.69 (0.27) | 1.02 (0.27) | 1.37 (0.37) | |||||||
|
|
Overlap rate of opioid prescriptions per patient | N/A | 1.95 (0.42) | 2.17 (0.20) | 2.30 (0.30) | |||||||
|
|
Naloxone use rate among opioid users | N/A | 0.57 (0.28) | 0.51 (0.16) | 0.45 (0.26) | |||||||
aNIMS: Narcotics Information Management System.
bNHI: National Health Insurance.
cMedAid: Medical Aid.
dPVI: Patriots and Veterans Insurance.
eOther disorders of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.
fN/A: not applicable.