TABLE. Characteristics of incident opioid users and patients who continued opioid use for ≥365 days (1 year) and ≥1,095 days (3 years) — United States, 2006–2015.
| Characteristic | All incident opioid users |
Patients who continued opioid therapy for ≥365 days |
Patients who continued opioid therapy for ≥1,095 days |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (N = 1,294,247) |
(n = 33,548) |
(n = 6,441) |
||||
| Mean (SD) | 95% CI | Mean (SD) | 95% CI | Mean (SD) | 95% CI | |
| Duration of first episode of opioid use |
14.81 (65.00) |
14.70–14.92 |
183.28 (343.27) |
179.61–186.96 |
362.40 (593.26) |
347.91–376.90 |
| Enrollment duration (yrs) |
2.48 (2.04) |
2.47–2.48 |
3.30 (1.83) |
2.47–2.48 |
4.98 (1.48) |
4.94–5.02 |
| Age (yrs) |
44.52 (14.56) |
44.50–44.54 |
49.58 (13.45) |
49.44–49.72 |
50.52 (12.68) |
50.21–50.83 |
| Female |
No. (%)
|
95% CI
|
No. (%)
|
95% CI
|
No. (%)
|
95% CI
|
| 698,950 (54.00) |
53.92–54.09 |
18,768 (55.94) |
55.41–56.47 |
3,500 (54.34) |
53.12–55.55 |
|
|
Treatment indication
| ||||||
| Back pain |
226,681 (17.51) |
17.45–17.58 |
10,396 (30.99) |
30.50–31.49 |
2,137 (33.18) |
32.04–34.34 |
| Neck pain |
90,352 (6.98) |
6.94–7.03 |
3,824 (11.40) |
11.06–11.74 |
775 (12.03) |
11.26–12.85 |
| Head pain |
30,123 (2.33) |
2.30–2.35 |
1,495 (4.46) |
4.24–4.68 |
306 (4.75) |
4.26–5.30 |
| Joint pain |
389,700 (30.11) |
30.03–30.19 |
14,862 (44.30) |
43.77–44.83 |
2,968 (46.08) |
44.87–47.30 |
|
Patient region
| ||||||
| South |
476,565 (36.74) |
36.64–36.83 |
13,437 (40.05) |
39.53–40.53 |
2,449 (38.02) |
36.84–39.21 |
| Midwest |
376,520 (29.09) |
29.01–29.17 |
9,566 (28.51) |
28.03–29.00 |
1,973 (30.63) |
29.52–31.77 |
| East |
279,595 (21.60) |
21.53–21.67 |
6,153 (18.34) |
17.93–18.76 |
1,234 (19.16) |
18.22–20.14 |
| West |
142,698 (11.03) |
10.97–11.08 |
3,640 (10.85) |
10.52–11.19 |
574 (8.91) |
8.24–9.63 |
| Missing/Other |
19,869 (1.54) |
1.51–1.56 |
752 (2.24) |
2.09–2.41 |
211 (3.28) |
2.87–3.74 |
|
Payer type
| ||||||
| Commercial |
866,815 (66.97) |
66.89–67.06 |
20,920 (62.36) |
61.84–62.88 |
3,910 (60.70) |
38.11–40.49 |
| Medicaid/State CHIP |
14,855 (1.15) |
1.13–1.17 |
864 (2.58) |
2.42–2.76 |
154 (2.39) |
2.05–2.79 |
| Medicare |
16,951 (1.31) |
1.29–1.33 |
1,160 (3.46) |
3.27–3.66 |
257 (3.96) |
3.52–4.48 |
| Self-insured |
387,122 (29.91) |
29.83–29.99 |
10,471 (31.21) |
30.72–31.71 |
2,089 (32.43) |
31.30–33.59 |
| RX only/Unknown |
8,504 (0.66) |
0.64–0.67 |
130 (0.39) |
0.33–0.46 |
32 (0.50) |
0.35–0.70 |
|
Prescription characteristic
| ||||||
| First prescription ≥90 MME* |
89,438 (6.91) |
6.87–6.95 |
2,613 (7.79) |
7.51–8.08 |
545 (8.46) |
7.81–9.17 |
| First prescription ≥120 MME* |
22,895 (1.77) |
1.75–1.79 |
1,075 (3.20) |
3.02–3.40 |
244 (3.79) |
3.35–4.28 |
| First long-acting opioid prescription† | 6,588 (0.51) | 0.50–0.52 | 905 (2.70) | 2.53–2.88 | 226 (3.51) | 3.09–3.99 |
Abbreviations: CHIP = Children’s Health Insurance Plan; CI = confidence interval; MME = morphine milligram equivalents; RX = prescription; SD = standard deviation.
*Average daily dose was calculated as total strength of the prescription expressed in MME divided by the days’ supply of the first prescription. If a patient had multiple prescriptions on the first day, the daily dose in MME for all the prescriptions on the index date were summed and divided by the days’ supply of the longest lasting prescription.
† The first prescription was categorized into six mutually exclusive categories and, in case of multiple prescriptions, on the index date using the following hierarchy to assign category: 1) long-acting; 2) other Schedule II short-acting; 3) Oxycodone short-acting; 4) Hydrocodone short-acting; 5) Schedule III-IV and Nalbuphine; or 6) tramadol.