Table 1.
Characteristics of All Group Health COT Patients Who Met Study Inclusion Criteria on 1/1/2012 (Study Midpoint) and of Patients with UDTs in the Study Sample
| Characteristic | All GH COT patients, 1/1/2012 N = 5,380 % (n) |
Study sample: COT patients with UDT 1/2011–12/2012* N = 3,809 % (n) |
Study sample: Number of UDTs 1/2011-12/2012 Mean (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 36.6 (1,967) | 39.4 (1,500) | 1.5 (0.9) |
| Age (years) | |||
| 20–44 | 14.2 (763) | 15.0 (573) | 1.3 (0.7) |
| 45–64 | 53.3 (2,866) | 56.9 (2,168) | 1.5 (0.8) |
| 65+ | 32.6 (1,751) | 28.0 (1,068) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Race | |||
| White | 84.1 (4,523) | 84.5 (3,219) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| African-American | 4.3 (231) | 4.2 (159) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Other | 7.5 (402) | 7.6 (291) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Missing data | 4.2 (224) | 3.7 (140) | 1.5 (0.8) |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Non-Hispanic | 92.3 (4,966) | 92.5 (3,522) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Hispanic | 3.6 (192) | 3.8 (143) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Missing data | 4.1 (222) | 3.8 (144) | 1.5 (0.8) |
| Pain diagnosis, past year | |||
| Back pain | 61.4 (3,304) | 59.8 (2,277) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Arthritis or joint pain | 57.1 (3,072) | 53.8 (2,050) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Limb extremity pain | 42.3 (2,276) | 41.0 (1,563) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| General chronic pain | 41.5 (2,232) | 40.0 (1,522) | 1.4 (0.9) |
| Neck pain | 27.4 (1,473) | 27.9 (1,064) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Abdominal pain | 20.9 (1,123) | 20.4 (778) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Fibromyalgia | 13.4 (718) | 12.8 (488) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Mental health diagnosis | 55.2 (2,967) | 55.5 (2,114) | 1.4 (0.7) |
| Alcohol use disorder diagnosis | 6.0 (325) | 6.8 (261) | 1.4 (0.9) |
| Substance use disorder diagnosis | 11.1 (598) | 12.4 (472) | 1.5 (0.9) |
| Current smoker | 26.2 (1,411) | 28.9 (1,102) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Opioid daily dose (mean MED) | |||
| <40 mg | 67.4 (3,626) | 63.7 (2,427) | 1.3 (0.6) |
| 40–<120 mg | 24.3 (1,306) | 26.6 (1,012) | 1.5 (0.7) |
| ≥120 mg | 8.3 (448) | 9.7 (370) | 1.8 (1.4) |
| Days’ supply, past 90 days | |||
| Less than daily (70–83) | 25.3 (1,362) | 22.8 (869) | 1.3 (0.5) |
| Daily/near-daily (84–96) | 48.6 (2,616) | 50.7 (1,930) | 1.4 (0.8) |
| Excessive (≥97) | 26.1 (1,402) | 26.5 (1,010) | 1.5 (0.9) |
| Opioid type | |||
| Short-acting only | 69.7 (3,750) | 66.5 (2,532) | 1.3 (0.6) |
| Long-acting only | 7.8 (418) | 8.9 (339) | 1.6 (1.0) |
| Long-acting plus short-acting | 22.5 (1,212) | 24.6 (938) | 1.3 (0.6) |
UDT urine drug test, COT chronic opioid therapy, MED morphine-equivalent dose
* Patient characteristics are for the first UDT in the study period. The study sample of 5,420 UDTs reflected 3,809 unique patients. Among the first UDTs in the study period for these 3,809 patients, 60.6 % were for female patients. The median (interquartile range) =1 (1, 2) UDTs for each patient subgroup. Some percentages do not sum to 100 across variable categories due to rounding of decimals