Table 1.
Patient characteristics and opioid prescriptions dispensed by clinician specialty—United States, 2015–2019
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||
| Unique patients, n | 51,839,740 | 50,396,992 | 47,194,550 | 42,167,675 | 38,785,488 |
| Median patient age, years (IQR) | 50 (34–63) | 51(35–64) | 52 (36–65) | 53 (37–66) | 54 (38–67) |
| Prescriptions dispensed by clinician specialty,* n (% of year) | |||||
| Addiction medicine | 102,028 (0.1) | 78,116 (0) | 64,049 (0) | 54,340 (0) | 44,697 (0) |
| Allergy and immunology | 61,265 (0) | 54,803 (0) | 45,401 (0) | 38,519 (0) | 29,817(0) |
| Anesthesiology | 4,897,660 (2.6) | 4,878,812 (2.7) | 4,833,182 (2.9) | 4,703,532 (3.2) | 4,515,705 (3.4) |
| Cardiology | 650,224 (0.4) | 574,224 (0.3) | 490,889 (0.3) | 393,354 (0.3) | 324,330 (0.2) |
| Dentist | 11,006,821 (5.9) | 10,509,265 (5.9) | 9,591,642 (5.8) | 8,071,631 (5.5) | 6,912,110 (5.2) |
| Emergency medicine | 9,941,826 (5.4) | 8,662,408 (4.9) | 7,009,580 (4.2) | 5,339,165 (3.6) | 4,621,728 (3.5) |
| Endocrinology | 181,765 (0.1) | 156,568 (0.1) | 127,774 (0.1) | 101,395 (0.1) | 80,045 (0.1) |
| Family medicine | 43,187,701 (23.3) | 40,140,352 (22.6) | 36,378,414 (22) | 31,124,681 (21.2) | 27,193,125 (20.3) |
| Gastroenterology/hepatology | 481,785 (0.3) | 427,948 (0.2) | 366,848 (0.2) | 316,932 (0.2) | 271,648 (0.2) |
| Infectious disease | 283,830 (0.2) | 248,764 (0.1) | 213,224 (0.1) | 177,130 (0.1) | 153,016 (0.1) |
| Internal medicine | 26,172,276 (14.1) | 24,344,359 (13.7) | 22,075,183 (13.3) | 19,040,633 (13) | 16,886,394 (12.6) |
| Nephrology | 492,609 (0.3) | 438,449 (0.2) | 384,979 (0.2) | 310,639 (0.2) | 256,108 (0.2) |
| Neurology | 26,835 (0) | 22,021 (0) | 19,796 (0) | 17,867 (0) | 15,934 (0) |
| OB/GYN | 3,659,783 (2) | 3,453,439 (1.9) | 3,078,663 (1.9) | 2,671,186 (1.8) | 2,352,254 (1.8) |
| Occupational medicine | 303,899 (0.2) | 244,420 (0.1) | 195,519 (0.1) | 162,524 (0.1) | 125,450 (0.1) |
| Oncology and/or hematology | 2,508,954 (1.4) | 2,427,626 (1.4) | 2,308,691 (1.4) | 2,131,539 (1.5) | 1,992,104 (1.5) |
| Ophthalmology | 317,540 (0.2) | 296,553 (0.2) | 272,670 (0.2) | 239,229 (0.2) | 207,136 (0.2) |
| Other | 2,921,288 (1.6) | 2,713,280 (1.5) | 2,426,311 (1.5) | 2,089,162 (1.4) | 1,855,075 (1.4) |
| Pain medicine | 10,893,243 (5.9) | 11,210,359 (6.3) | 11,198,678 (6.8) | 10,684,290 (7.3) | 9,990,168 (7.5) |
| Palliative care | 183,298 (0.1) | 184,893 (0.1) | 194,245 (0.1) | 216,435 (0.1) | 234,174 (0.2) |
| Pediatric hematology/oncology | 39,280 (0) | 37,815 (0) | 36,228 (0) | 33,716 (0) | 33,376 (0) |
| Pediatric subspecialties (other) | 186,226 (0.1) | 161,269 (0.1) | 135,974 (0.1) | 106,905 (0.1) | 87,751 (0.1) |
| Pediatrics | 1,094,021 (0.6) | 987,990 (0.6) | 873,785 (0.5) | 744,626 (0.5) | 657,573 (0.5) |
| Physical medicine and rehabilitation | 6,389,513 (3.4) | 6,240,101 (3.5) | 5,941,914 (3.6) | 5,467,999 (3.7) | 5,067,217(3.8) |
| Podiatry | 1,372,353 (0.7) | 1,308,946 (0.7) | 1,191,054 (0.7) | 1,033,757 (0.7) | 949,606 (0.7) |
| Psychiatry | 405,023 (0.2) | 350,577 (0.2) | 306,935 (0.2) | 251,830 (0.2) | 208,384 (0.2) |
| Pulmonary / critical care medicine | 487,556 (0.3) | 448,233 (0.3) | 387,558 (0.2) | 309,139 (0.2) | 265,839 (0.2) |
| Rheumatology | 3,032,587(1.6) | 2,803,972 (1.6) | 2,545,385 (1.5) | 2,237,216 (1.5) | 1,971,806 (1.5) |
| Surgery | 23,783,222 (12.8) | 22,658,351 (12.7) | 20,685,321 (12.5) | 18,296,381 (12.5) | 16,810,191 (12.5) |
IQR = interquartile range.
Clinician specialty groups are detailed in Supplementary Data Table S1.