Table 3.
Characteristics of opioid pain reliever prescriptions from the emergency department
| strength | # of prescriptions (% total) | # pills per prescription mean (SD)* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| oxycodone | ||||
| (n = 1716, 52.3% of total) | 2.5 mg | 1 | (<0.1%) | 18 (N/A) |
| 5 mg | 1680 | (97.9%) | 15.7 (7.1) | |
| 7.5 mg | 3 | (0.2%) | 13.0 (4.2) | |
| 10 mg | 28 | (1.6%) | 16.3 (6.8) | |
| 15 mg | 1 | (<0.1%) | 10 (N/A) | |
| 30 mg | 3 | (0.2%) | 13.3 (5.8) | |
| hydrocodone | ||||
| (n = 1344, 40.9% of total) | 5 mg | 1192 | (88.7%) | 17.3 (7.3) |
| 10 mg | 104 | (7.7%) | 20.8 (12.4) | |
| 7.5 mg | 37 | (2.8%) | 17.0 (7.8) | |
| suspension | 11 | (0.8%) | N/A | |
| codeine | ||||
| (n = 159, 4.8% of total) | 5 mg | 1 | (0.6%) | 20 (N/A) |
| 10 mg | 1 | (0.6%) | 24 (N/A) | |
| 15 mg | 3 | (1.9%) | 30.3 (25.7) | |
| 20 mg | 6 | (3.8%) | 19.8 (9.4) | |
| 30 mg | 137 | (86.2%) | 18.0 (6.8) | |
| suspension | 11 | (6.9%) | N/A | |
| hydromorphone | ||||
| (n = 47, 1.4% of total) | 1 mg | 1 | (2.1%) | 28 (N/A) |
| 2 mg | 41 | (87.2%) | 17.3 (8.6) | |
| 4 mg | 3 | (6.4%) | 22.7 (18.1) | |
| 5 mg | 2 | (4.3%) | 15.0 (7.1) | |
| morphine | ||||
| (n = 14, 0.4% of total) | 5 mg | 4 | (28.6%) | 6 (N/A) |
| 10 mg | 1 | (7.1%) | 20 (N/A) | |
| 15 mg | 8 | (57.2%) | 37.1 (34.0) | |
| 30 mg | 1 | (7.1%) | 20 (N/A) | |
NB: Other prescriptions accounted for 4 additional prescriptions (3 for methadone, 1 for fentanyl)
*
Number of pills per prescription was available for 3118 (94.9%) of patients